The Downside of Falling in Love
by nessie6
Summary: Sequel to 'The Silver-Tongued Mutant'. Quicksilver was Bayville's resident lady's man and there was no way he'd ever fall for just one girl. That was...Until Crystal Amaquelin came along. Complete.
1. Icing On The Cake

Disclaimer- I do not own the BH, the X-Men, or Crystal and her family. I own Crystal's friends and their family, and anything else you might not recognize.  
  
Summary- Wherever she goes, and to her annoyance, he always seems to be there too.  
  
~ ~ = Stuff from memory.  
  
Author's Note- This is the sequel to 'The Silver-Tongued Mutant'. It is not required reading, but you might get this story a little bit better if you read that. It's only two chapters.  
  
Chapter One- Icing On The Cake  
  
Flipping her long blonde hair out of her face, Crystal reached for one of the carts and pulled. It didn't budge. She tugged at it again but only succeeded in rattling the whole line of carts. She tugged harder this time, and with less patience, and it still didn't budge. Finally, letting out a growl of frustration, she kicked the cart, which of course didn't do her any good.  
  
"Want help with that?" asked a rather arrogant male voice from behind her. Crystal turned around to face the man and her eyes widened slightly and then she squinted.  
  
He was a fairly tall, young, and skinny man, being around six feet to six foot one. He had high cheekbones and dark angular eyebrows that matched his face perfectly. His eyes were blue chips of cerulean ice and were fierce and cold. He was fairly skinny, but he wasn't too skinny, and he was pale, but not that it made him look sickly. His mouth was curved into an arrogant smirk. But his most distinguishable feature was his hair. Although he couldn't be more than a year older than her, his hair was stark white.  
  
He looked strangely familiar. As Crystal tried to identify him, he raised his eyebrow slightly and his smirk grew wider.  
  
"Like what you see?" he asked suggestively and nudged his way past her and gave a strong pull on one of the carts, which of course let free, and offered it to her.  
  
She grabbed the handle of the cart but she did not cease her staring at him.  
  
"What, no thanks?" he joked. She still had the same expression on her face; eyes squinted, mouth slightly open. It scared him slightly but he didn't show it.  
  
Then when she still didn't say anything and still had that ridiculous expression on her face, he gave her an odd look. "Um, alrightly then," he said uncomfortably, mainly because the way she was staring at him made him very uncomfortable and he started to feel self-conscious.  
  
His gaze on her hardened, "Fine," he snapped rudely at her, "Next time, I won't be as nice." And he turned sharply on his heel and walked briskly away from her.  
  
Crystal realized her mouth was open and she quickly snapped it shut, blushing slightly. She now remembered who he was.  
  
~Next time, I won't be as nice~  
  
He had said those words to her before. A memory flashed before her in her mind's eye. A memory that had happened nearly three years ago, and had been forgotten.  
  
~Beware of Quicksilver~  
  
His eyes were still as cold and hateful as they had been back then, the blue chips of ice had made her involuntarily shiver.  
  
Then she snapped back to reality and realized she had been standing in the same spot without moving for almost ten minutes. Blushing again slightly, she finally moved and went to go by her groceries.  
  
"Oranges, oranges," she muttered to herself, examining the oranges carefully that were 30% off. She put five in a plastic bag and moved on.  
  
She looked disdainfully at a package of spinach. Sighing, she dropped it into her cart also.  
  
She wanted to make brownies so that meant she had to go to the bakery because that was usually where all the mixes were.  
  
And there he was again, hopping from one foot to the other like a hyperactive eight-year old. He was standing with four other people. The male to the left of him with brown hair was ordering something and looked very irritated, a large male was looking at the different displays of cakes, another smaller and dirtier male was leaning heavily on the handle of their cart, looking very bored, and lastly, a female with dark hair and cerulean blue eyes was standing to the left of the man ordering the cake, also looking annoyed.  
  
Curiosity is a curious thing, and right now it was overwhelming Crystal. She scooted the cart closer to them, but only close enough to where she could eavesdrop on them.  
  
"No, Lance! The LEFT side has the black frosting with red icing, the RIGHT side is silver frosting with blue icing!"  
  
Lance scowled at the white-haired hyperactive one. "That's what I told them, dumbass."  
  
But the white-haired one, or Quicksilver, as Crystal recalled, was shaking his head.  
  
"Tell them that the right side has silver frosting, with blue sprinkles on the side, and blue icing. The left side has black frosting with red sprinkles on the side and red icing. And whatever word is on the left is in red and whatever word is on the right is in blue. It should say: Happy 21st Birthday Wanda and Pietro! But make sure Wanda's name is on the left and mine's on the right or it'll be all wrong."  
  
He said this a little fast.  
  
Lance sighed, "Can't we just have the icing in white or something?"  
  
Quicksilver shook his head violently, looking extremely impatient. "Then the color coordination will be all wrong!"  
  
"Jesus Christ, Pietro, it's just a cake!" Lance hissed.  
  
Quicksilver glared at him. "It's MY cake. Lance this isn't just any birthday! It's my TWENTY-FIRST birthday! Me and Wanda's cake has to be special and perfect!"  
  
"Oh, so you're deciding to include me?" Wanda yawned.  
  
Pietro just rolled his eyes at her, "Quiet you."  
  
Wanda growled quietly but crossed her arms and leaned against the glass containing the cakes.  
  
Lance sighed and then turned to the middle-aged woman behind the counter. "What he said." He jabbed his thumb in Pietro's direction.  
  
The woman nodded and repeated everything Pietro had said. Pietro looked pleased.  
  
"Now we buy the beer," he declared.  
  
"You can't buy beer," Lance smirked.  
  
"No, but you can. You're twenty-two, and Freddy's twenty-one. You can buy my--our beer," Pietro said.  
  
"I'll get in trouble," Lance said.  
  
Quicksilver snorted, "So? Since when do you care? It's not like I'm going to drink it tonight, I'll be drinking it tomorrow, on my birthday, where I can be legally drunk."  
  
They started walking away and Crystal followed them. She did not know why she was, she just wanted to.  
  
"Really, Lance, the only person who really isn't old enough is little Toddy (Hey!)," Pietro begged. "Please just buy me some beer!"  
  
"No," Lance said sternly. He didn't find anything wrong with beer, he just didn't want to buy Pietro any.  
  
"Wanda, make him buy me some beer! I'll give you some!" Pietro whined zipping over to his sister and clutched her arm.  
  
"Just buy the damn whiner some beer, Lance," Wanda growled and shook Pietro off her arm.  
  
"Oh, thankyouthankyouthankyou!"  
  
He just happened to turn around and he spotted Crystal. She was careful not to look at the group directly, but he smirked suddenly.  
  
"Hello there! First, you don't thank me, and now you're stalking me?" he sneered.  
  
Egotistical bastard.  
  
"No," Crystal snarled.  
  
"Then what are you doing here? You can't be old enough to buy beer," He said.  
  
She looked up and jumped when she found he was right in front of her. "Who says I'm not?"  
  
"I say your not," his arrogant smirk grew wider.  
  
"Pietro, get your skinny ass over here and leave the girl alone! You flirt with anything in a skirt, it's sad, really," Wanda called from behind. The group started to walk up to the two of them.  
  
Pietro gave her a disgusted look, "Since when have I flirted with you? Gah! You're my sister!"  
  
"Don't make me slap you silly," she said threateningly.  
  
"I haven't flirted with any of the X-Geeks either. That's disgusting. If I flirt with Pryde-"  
  
"You've been hitting on Kitty?" Lance interrupted. The group didn't seem to be paying attention to Crystal.  
  
"As I was saying, if I flirted with Pryde, Lance would wring my neck," he smirked, "If he could catch me."  
  
"Pietro, just shut up before *I* wring your neck," his sister said, flexing her fingers.  
  
"Fine. FINE!" He growled and turned ubruptly to Crystal. "Just excuse us *Miss*, you seemed to have caught me in one of my more dangerous moods. So why don't you move that pretty little behind of yours thatta way," he pointed behind her, "And leave us alone. No more trouble."  
  
Crystal gave him a death glare. Turning her cart around she flipped him off.  
  
Pietro's eyes widened in shock and then he let out a snarl.  
  
Sadistic bitch.  
  
And while Crystal was walking away, all she could think of was, 'Well I certainly don't wish HIM a happy birthday!'  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Like it? Hate it? Either way review! 


	2. Birthday Bash

Disclaimer- See chapter one's.  
  
Summary- To Crystal's dismay, everywhere she goes, he always seems to be there also. And vice-versa.  
  
Author's Note- I kinda got the idea for the waking up early thing from the story "Double Trouble" by todd fan. It's not exactly like it, just a very, very, minor part.  
  
Chapter Two- Birthday Bash  
  
"Up, up, up!" A familiar someone said in a singsong voice right next to Lance's ear. Lance scrunched up his face and turned his head slightly.  
  
Pietro was shaking Lance's shoulder roughly, "C'mon Lance, it's my birthday. Get up. UP! Get UP! Upupupupup!"  
  
Lance slowly opened his puffy eyes and blinked a couple of times to adjust his eyesight. He looked at the digital clock on his nightstand.  
  
"Pietro," he said groggily, "It's three in the morning!"  
  
"Yeah," Pietro said absently, "I beat Wanda. Wherearemypresents?"  
  
"Huh?" Lance said, too tired to decipher Pietro's hyper talk.  
  
"Where. Are. Mypresents?" Pietro repeated, having a hard time trying to talk slower.  
  
"Can't it wait till later?" Lance moaned, closing his eyes.  
  
Pietro slapped him in the face. "Wake UP! NO it CAN'T wait! It's my BIRTHDAY! Wherearemypresents? Hurry up, time's a wasting!"  
  
Lance sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed. He rubbed his face with his hand wearily and took a few moments to do anything else. He was only wearing a T-shirt and boxers, but Pietro was just another guy so it didn't matter.  
  
"Lance! I don't have all day! Comeoncomeon!" Pietro demanded, snapping his fingers twice in Lance's face.  
  
Lance slapped Pietro's hand away and glared at the speedster.  
  
Lance slowly got up; so slow for Pietro that he started to make short erratic whimpers almost like a dog's from being so darn impatient.  
  
"Don't get your panties tied in a not, Pietro," Lance smirked, stopping at his closet door. He dropped to his knees and started rummaging around looking for the gifts.  
  
"Well, I don't have to worry about that, do I? Since I don't wear panties but I don't know if I could say the same for you," Pietro sneered.  
  
Lance was too tired to figure out what the comment meant at that moment. He found a small package wrapped in the plastic bag it came in. He tossed it over his shoulder.  
  
"Here," he grunted.  
  
"Lance! What if it's breakable?!" Pietro exclaimed, using his super speed to catch it. He hastily ripped apart the bag (although it would have been easier if he just used the opening) and saw a black pen inside.  
  
"What the fuck is this?" Pietro said in disbelief. "You get me some cheapo pen after-O o o o!"  
  
Pietro's eyes widened as he kept tilting the pen slightly to the right and then to the left.  
  
"This is the BEST pen EVER!" Pietro laughed excitedly, giggling every time he moved the pen.  
  
"Clothes go off, clothes back on, clothes go off, back on, clothes off, on, offonoffonoffonoffon," he shrieked with laughter, "Off. Heeheeonoffheeonheheoff." [1]  
  
Lance looked over his shoulder at the excited speed demon and smirked. "You do have more you know."  
  
Pietro walked over to stand beside Lance, his eyes never leaving the pen. Occasionally, he let out a shrill giggle.  
  
Lance finally found the last present, also in the plastic bag it came in.  
  
"Here," he said holding it behind him for Pietro to grab. Pietro swiped the back out of Lance's hand. He put the pen in his jeans pocket, patting it fondly.  
  
He ripped the presents from the bag. It had contained a calendar where the beautiful supermodel women pose topless and a dirty magazine. This was all stuff that Pietro could buy by himself, but they really needed to pay the bills so presents and stuff were cheap.  
  
"Oh, Hugh Hefner, how I envy you," Pietro said as he flipped through the pages of the magazine slowly. His jaw dropped, "Homina, homina. . ."  
  
"I think Hugh Hefner has the right idea," Pietro said to Lance, regretfully tearing his eyes away from the naughty pictures. "I mean having seven girlfriends has to be great. I mean, seven gorgeous, hot, sexy, women. Sweaty. . . tight white t-shirts. . . wet t-shirts. . . no bra. . .wet t- shirt. . .white. . .no bra. . ." He could not continue because he was having graphic pictures in his head. Pervert.  
  
"I dunno, the girlfriends might get jealous. I think one girlfriend's fine," Lance shrugged and got up clumsily and started walking back to his bed.  
  
Pietro made a face. "Please, Lance, I doubt you and Pryde didn't even do 'it' yet and you've been on and off for years."  
  
"We're just not ready yet," Lance defended himself, sliding under the covers.  
  
Pietro shook his head. "I don't understand why people do that. I mean, how boring would it be to have sex with only one woman for the rest of your life? And then they get all old and wrinkly and. . . Ah! Ah!" He started pounding his head with his fist.  
  
Lance rolled his eyes as he beat his pillow with his fist, "Yeah, and we all know old and wrinkly women is the one thing that makes you horny. Now get OUT of here and let me sleep!"  
  
Pietro decided to let that comment slide, for now. He smirked, "Fine, have a good whole fifteen minutes of sleep before Wanda comes bursting in here demanding for her presents."  
  
"Hmph," came the muffled reply.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Pietro and Wanda were sitting side by side at the head of the small and slightly rectangular table. In front of them was the cake they ordered with two candles; one was a two and the other was a one. Wanda tried to keep a scowl on her face but found she couldn't because the corner of her mouth kept twitching. Pietro was fidgeting in his chair, truly not able to keep himself still for more than three seconds.  
  
Surrounding the cake were cans of beer, and some soda cans for Todd. Although Todd begged and begged and begged to have some of the beer, Pietro laughed and said he was too young. Todd argued, saying that he had some before and so had Pietro before he came of age, but Pietro still laughed.  
  
Pietro had received about seven bags of Pixie Stix, and two coupons for them (buy any Wonka candy and get another two free!), from Todd; from Freddy he got another naughty magazine, a different one from Playboy though. From Wanda he got a $100 gift card for Abercrombie and Fitch, since he liked good looking and expensive clothes. She had to get him something expensive; he was after all, her twin.  
  
The rest were singing 'Happy Birthday' to the twins, although Lance was singing it so quietly that they could barely hear him. Todd had attempted to give Wanda a 'Birthday Hug' but to no avail, and found himself sliding down the wall for probably the 151st time in a year.  
  
When they finished they both went to blow out the candle, but Pietro released his breath too early and winded up blowing both of them out.  
  
"Pietro! We were supposed to blow them out together!" Wanda snarled and shoved Pietro forcefully from his chair, knocking him to the floor.  
  
She jumped on top of him and started hitting him hard and saying, "You're such a prick! Can't you stop being an arrogant asshole for just ONE day?!"  
  
Pietro tried to squirm away from her. "Wanda stop! Ow! Stop! StopstopOWstop! I didn't mean to! You were countingowtooOWowslow! OW! Would you stop hitting me?"  
  
Wanda stopped and glared at him. "Your present better be good. Where is it?"  
  
Pietro pushed her off and rubbed his sore spots. "I'm being nice and taking you to a nice fancy restaurant, happy?"  
  
She was still scowling at him, "They better have good food."  
  
"Well, they do."  
  
"Fine, let's have cake then," Wanda said and she got off of Pietro and held out her hand for him. He grabbed it and she helped him up.  
  
They then fought over of who gets to cut the cake first. Finally, they compromised and they each cut a piece from their own side of the cake.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Pietro and Wanda entered the expensive restaurant that they clearly looked out of place of.  
  
They walked over to the Maitre de. He looked up.  
  
"Maximoff. I had reservations for 7:00?" Pietro said impatiently.  
  
"Yes sir," the Maitre de said. He grabbed two menus and led them to a section of the restaurant.  
  
He handed them their menus. "The waiter will be here soon, sir."  
  
Wanda was skimming the menus. "The filet mignon looks good," she said, striking up a conversation.  
  
"Mmm hmm," Pietro grunted, narrowing his eyes at the menu. In the author's opinion, he looks very hot right now. But when does he not? "You going to get that?"  
  
Wanda cocked her head just a little, "Yeah, why not? Get some whine too."  
  
"Yeah, yeah."  
  
"I'm sorry I called you an asshole today. This is very nice of you," Wanda said softly, but not really. Mediumly?  
  
"S' okay," he grunted turning a section of the menu over. "What kind of whine you want?"  
  
"It doesn't matter."  
  
"This one?" he asked pointing to one of the selections of whine they had on the menu and showing it to Wanda.  
  
"That's four hundred dollars. Where the hell are you getting all this money?" Wanda asked incredulously.  
  
Pietro smirked, his blue eyes looking at her mischievously. He said to her in an undertone, "One of the old Acolytes is a thief. He let me borrow this," he reached into his back pocket and got out a wallet. He pulled out a blue credit card. He handed it to her  
  
"Oh, I see now, Mr. Summers," Wanda laughed, handing it back. Pietro thought it was good to see her laugh. It almost made him smile, but he didn't. He hadn't had a real reason to smile in a long time. He just smirks. Smirk, smirk, smirk.  
  
The waiter came up to them then. "Would you like to order anything, Sir and Madam?"  
  
"Get us salads and soups, but nothing with mushrooms, and jalapeno poppers. You got those? Really? Okay then. And we want that wine." Pietro said, pointing to each of the things on the menu.  
  
"I need to see your ID before we give you wine. Sorry, but you seem awfully young," the waiter said.  
  
Pietro sighed irritably as he showed him his driver's license. How in the world he got a driver's license, nobody knows. Wanda showed the waiter hers also.  
  
The waiter left as others came and started pouring them their wine.  
  
Pietro drummed his fingers at an abnormal rate until Wanda told him to stop it. Fifteen minutes had passed and the waiters started coming and setting the appetizers on the table.  
  
They then started eating occasionally speaking. The waiter came up to them again nearly ten minutes later.  
  
"Are you ready to order?" he asked them.  
  
"I want BBQ ribs. Give me two whole racks," Pietro said.  
  
The waiter raised his eyebrows, "Sir, one rack is quite large-"  
  
"I want two whole racks," Pietro said firmly.  
  
The waiter sighed and nodded and then turned to Wanda.  
  
"I want the filet mignon," she said and glared at him as if he was about to object to what she wanted to eat too.  
  
"Hey Maximoff!" shouted a snobby and familiar voice.  
  
Both Maximoffs raised their heads and turned to the sound of the voice.  
  
It was Duncan Matthews (dun dun dunnn!).  
  
Pietro glared at him scathingly (can you do that?). Wanda glared at him too. She never went to Bayville High because she was too busy trying to kill her father and seriously hurt her brother (her own twin!), but she really doesn't need to know that right now. She knew Duncan from the boys, and they never spoke highly of him. In fact, they really want him to rot in Hell, but that just isn't happening right now because everybody wants him too and then they'll all be happy so that's why he isn't.  
  
"Who's your hottie?" He catcalled. He should be embarrassed because he's calling across the restaurant surrounded by rich people and he had a date with him.  
  
It was her!  
  
Pietro's eyes widened when he saw her. The sadistic bitch was there! With MATTHEWS!  
  
Pietro actually did think she was hot. She had a delicate face with perfect- set cheekbones, and the perfect eyebrows and the perfect lashes and the perfect hair. She's perfect, you get the idea.  
  
"Matthews you shut your mouth," Wanda threatened. She's a very threatening person, as you can see.  
  
Duncan got up, smirking (it doesn't work quite as well with him as it does with Pietro and Gambit) and he grabbed the sadistic bitch by the arm and dragged her over to their table.  
  
Duncan pulled two chairs away from an empty table and set them at their table. It was a really rude thing to do in a fancy restaurant. It was sort of Blues Brotherish. But not really.  
  
"Duncan, for pity's sake, they're siblings!" the girl said, scowling at Matthews.  
  
"How do you know?" Duncan asked in surprise, turning to the sadistic bitch.  
  
"Because they were buying their birthday cake in the store," she snapped.  
  
"You're twins?" he turned to them.  
  
"Just get away from us, Matthews," Pietro seethed.  
  
"So you must be a mutie too," Duncan said to Wanda. He looked like he was about to laugh.  
  
"So what if I am?" she snarled. Her hands started to show their blue energy.  
  
Duncan stood up, pointed to them and shouted, "Mutie freaks! Mutie freaks!" he pointed to Pietro, "This one can steel all of your money without you seeing him! We should get them!"  
  
The men started to stand up, and some people started screaming. Duncan's date looked embarrassed and ashamed.  
  
Wanda was really pissed off and dinners and chairs were starting to float around the room.  
  
"No Wanda!" Pietro warned, and he scooped his sister up and in a second, there was a huge gust of wind and they were gone.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Ta da! Another chapter done! Just because I like you guys so much! X's & O's to ya'll!  
  
Thanks for reviewing: Storm-Pietro, sPoOkZ13412, la cour de belles fleurs (you seem to have reviewed twice, but I don't mind), InsaneBunneh (it's MINE), I Am The Anonymous Reviewer, and rosie. Sorry if I missed anybody! Keep reading and please keep reviewing!  
  
[1] From a 'Friends' episode.  
  
If you review, you get cookies! 


	3. Girls' Night

Disclaimer- What do you think? Do I *look* rich?  
  
I do own Crystal's friends and their family, however. Which doesn't help at all.  
  
Author's Note- Hey, I'm writing this for you. I really should be doing my science project that's due tomorrow, but hey, its just science! Oh, and this Lorna is not the Polaris Lorna, just in case you are thinking that. Enjoy!  
  
Chapter Three- Girls' Night  
  
The four of them sat around Crystal's table. They were her closest friends: Damita, Val, and Lorna. Best friends ever since high school.  
  
Lorna, the thinnest of the group, was pale and had bleached platinum-blonde hair. She was wearing a thin long-sleeved jade green shirt and dark khakis. Her left elbow was resting on the table, and in her thin and elegant hand was a long cigarette, where streams of smoke came out of it and made its way to the ceiling. After suffering from Bulimia for a few years, she finally managed to get help and seemed much happier and less miserable.  
  
Val was the shortest, but probably the toughest. Her parents were from the Philippines, making her Philippine herself. She was very pretty and was shuffling the deck of cards in her hands.  
  
Damita was the oldest and the tallest, and she just sat there, looking all bored. She was biracial, her father Caucasian and her mother African American. Her hair was a light brown with golden highlights and very, very curly. Right now her hair was pulled back into a ponytail.  
  
"So that guy just ruined your date with Duncan and didn't even apologize?" Val asked as she began to deal the cards.  
  
Crystal sighed. "No, Duncan was the one who ruined our date. He asked for a fight. The other guy did warn him to get away."  
  
"Was he cute?" Lorna asked, taking a drag of her cigarette. She exhaled the smoke so it would drift up to the ceiling.  
  
Crystal blushed. "He was good-looking."  
  
"Better than Duncan?" Lorna asked, raising an eyebrow and smiling.  
  
Crystal didn't answer right away. "He was. . .different."  
  
Lorna burst out laughing. "You got the hots for him!"  
  
"I do not!" Crystal said indignantly.  
  
"Come on. Describe," Lorna urged her.  
  
Crystal sighed. "I will not fill your mind with all of this nonsense!"  
  
Lorna closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. Smiling slightly. "Really hunky. Deep, blue eyes that just hypnotize you. Thick, soft, shiny, gorgeous blonde hair. Muscle-ripped stomach! Huge biceps! Great pectoral muscles!" She snapped her eyes open and grinned at Crystal. Crystal just scowled back.  
  
"Not even close."  
  
"Describe!"  
  
Crystal picked up the cards that had been dealt to her. "No."  
  
"Please?"  
  
Crystal rolled her eyes. "Fine!" she snapped. Val and Damita smirked. Lorna looked excited.  
  
"Start from the beginning. Do you know what he was doing there?" Lorna asked, snuffing out her cigarette in the ashtray and leaning forward eagerly.  
  
"He was eating with his sister."  
  
The others looked slightly disturbed. "Eww, hillbillies? Incest?" Lorna asked, her face was all scrunched up.  
  
"No. It was their twenty-first birthday. He took her out to dinner," Crystal explained.  
  
"Aww," Lorna sighed.  
  
"Their?" asked Damita in slight confusion.  
  
"They're twins."  
  
"How on earth do you know?" asked Val.  
  
Crystal let out a frustrated sigh. "Because I saw them in the store buying their cake."  
  
"Okay, enough with that," Lorna said in a hurry, "Come on! Describe!"  
  
"Blue eyes. Tall, kind of thin."  
  
"Details, Crystal! Details!"  
  
Crystal just about growled. "Fine. White hair, deep blue eyes, and an arrogant voice. He's an egotistical bastard."  
  
"I was right about the blue eyes! Do they hypnotize?" Lorna asked, almost jumping up and down in her seat with excitement.  
  
"I didn't notice," Crystal said coldly.  
  
"Crys, why are you taking this so seriously?" Damita asked her.  
  
Crystal put her head on the table. "Because we've met him before and that's what bothers me."  
  
"What?" asked Val, her voice laced with confusion.  
  
"Remember about three years ago when that mutant knocked me over in the street and he dropped all of his candy?" Crystal's question was muffled. Lorna and Damita squinted their eyes in thought.  
  
"Yes. . ." Val said slowly.  
  
"It was he."  
  
Val's eyebrows rose. "Oh," she said simply.  
  
Crystal lifted up her head, "Oh?"  
  
Val just shrugged. "I'm wary of them but I am starting to feel really sorry for those mutants. Are you hearing all of those propagandas that Mayor Kelly is making? I doubt all of them are bad. They're different. You're different."  
  
Crystal sighed. She was neither a human or mutant, she was an Inhuman, a being with special powers. She hadn't been born with them, but the Terrigan Mists fixed that. That was the reason why she lived alone in an apartment; the rest of her family lived in a place called Attilan, where she was part of the royal family. She had wanted to stay on Earth.  
  
Yes, she was different.  
  
"I actually regret being so cold to him," Val said softly. When the speedster had rammed into them that one day, she had been very rude to him, not really sure how to react to the mutants.  
  
"Well he deserved it. He's extremely rude and has the patience of a rat."  
  
Lorna furrowed her brow. "How do you know if rats are patient or not?"  
  
"Just shut up about it already and let's just finish our game," Crystal snapped. She had lost her patience.  
  
Crystal scowled at her cards. She had no pairs whatsoever.  
  
"Got any sevens?" Damita asked.  
  
Crystal scowled. Yeah, she had a seven. Rudely, she threw it at the woman.  
  
"Hey!" Damita exclaimed. "Geez, someone's in a pissy mood."  
  
"PMS?" Lorna asked understandingly.  
  
"No!" Crystal cried, but then she paused for a moment, "Well, yeah, but that's not the reason!"  
  
"Girl, it's always the reason," said Damita, and then added, "to guys at least."  
  
Val sighed and changed the subject, "So are you still dating Duncan?"  
  
"I don't know. I never really liked him that much," Crystal sighed, "I guess I still date him because he's good looking. Talk about being shallow."  
  
"Girl, there's nothing wrong with being shallow!" Damita said with a laugh. She was a heartbreaker, dating one guy and promising to call him and then they would never hear from her again.  
  
Val scowled at Damita. "She's just saying that, Crys, because she's not a virgin."  
  
"What's wrong with not being a virgin?" asked Lorna.  
  
"Oh, shut up. There's nothing wrong with it." Val snapped.  
  
"They why-"  
  
"Oh, just shut up already!" Crystal cried, throwing her hands up in the air.  
  
"Truth or dare anyone?" Lorna giggled, putting her cards down and walking over to the couch and hopping over the back.  
  
"You're acting like a twelve year old," Val said with a small smile.  
  
"Well, we're still having sleepovers and me and Crystal are nineteen. Damita's twenty-two!" Lorna said, stretching out on the couch.  
  
"Not the point," Val sang. The rest were walking over to the couches, where bunches of sleeping bags, blankets, and pillows littered the floor.  
  
"Oh, Valerie, Valerie, Valerie," Lorna said as if Val was a naïve child that did not know any better.  
  
Lorna sat up and slid to the floor, holding one of the pillows tightly, and sat where the others were gathered.  
  
"I go first!" she said.  
  
"Crys," she turned to Crystal, "Truth or dare?"  
  
Crystal thought for a moment, "Truth."  
  
"Sissy," Lorna taunted, "Okay, if you see that guy again. . ."  
  
Crystal's green eyes narrowed.  
  
"Would you want to go out on a date?"  
  
Crystal gnawed her pink lower lip in irritation. She was never going to let that go was she?  
  
"No."  
  
"Oh, you're no fun," Lorna pouted.  
  
Crystal rolled her eyes up to the ceiling and shook her head slightly. She then sighed and looked around at the group again. "Truth or dare, Damita?"  
  
"Dare."  
  
"I dare you to," Crystal looked around the room for something to give her an idea.  
  
"Dance around outside in your pajamas, with shaving cream all over you screaming, 'I am a goddess! I love Hooters!'"  
  
Damita's jaw dropped. "Crys, it's January! You know how cold you can get with shaving cream?"  
  
Crystal smiled. "Chicken?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Bawk, bakaw! Bawk!" Crystal teased, her arms folded and flapping up and down like wings, "Bawk, bawk, bawk, bawk! Bakaw!"  
  
"Stop already!" Damita cried, putting her hands in front of Crystal's face as if to silence her physically, "I'll do it! I'll do it!"  
  
Damita's pajamas were a very short pair of silk shorts, with a silk tank top. They were almost like a dark mauve in color, but that didn't matter. What mattered was that she would be cold.  
  
Crystal shook the bottle of shaving cream, grinning. She started to put it on Damita as Damita started to rub it in. Crystal gave Damita her key.  
  
"Okay, you're done. Go on and dance, Goddess."  
  
"You're sadistic, you know that?"  
  
"I've heard."  
  
"And a bitch."  
  
"So I've been told."  
  
"I hate you, you know?"  
  
"Not the first time you said that," Crystal smirked. "Now go out there and dance, and proclaim your love for Hooters."  
  
"As in Hooters the restaurant or hooters the other thing?" Damita asked.  
  
"The restaurant, but they might not think that." Crystal grinned.  
  
Damita sighed and walked out the door. The others scrambled to the balcony.  
  
It took a minute or so for Damita to walk out the front door. She stood on the sidewalk, and with one last glare at the balcony above, she began to dance.  
  
The three of them had to cover their mouth with their hands to stifle their hysterical laughter.  
  
Damita stopped and spread her arms up into the air, hollering at the top of her voice, "I am a goddess! I love Hooters!"  
  
She started to dance again while screaming that thing over and over. Catcalls and whistles were heard from the younger men in the apartment buildings.  
  
They knew Damita was blushing with humiliation. That was her problem, she never backed down from a dare.  
  
"Call me!" a male voice shouted from one of the top floors of the buildings.  
  
Damita then ran inside, and the three of them hurried into the apartment and burst out into hysterical laughter.  
  
Damita burst in, her face flushed, and looking very cold.  
  
"If I wasn't so cold, I'd kill you," she growled. They stopped laughing, having a hard time holding it in.  
  
Lorna let out a loud snort.  
  
The others followed.  
  
Damita fumed, and ran towards the bathroom to take a hot shower.  
  
Crystal followed, and when she got there she knocked on the door. "I'll wash your pajamas for you while you're in there."  
  
The door opened and a bronze arm came out with the pajamas in her hand. Crystal took them.  
  
After throwing them into the wash that they used downstairs, Crystal came back up and talked to the others while Damita calmed down.  
  
All thoughts of the mutant Quicksilver were driven from her head, and she was glad.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Oh YAY! I'm really loving this story. Okay, about Crystal's backround. She is something called an Inhuman, a kind of alien thing, I'm not totally sure. She has powers and she calls herself an elemental, because she can control the major elements: fire, water, air, and earth. She can only do it up to an hour, however, and if she controls multiple of them it's only up to 45 minutes. Her father's sister is the wife of the king of the Inhumans, which makes her royal. Her sister, Medusa, marries the oldest son of Agon and Rynda, who is the king and queen. Blackagar Boltagon (Crystal's brother- in-law/cousin) then becomes the king, making Medusa queen. It's a bit complicated, really. It won't be accurate in here because this story is an AU. Very AU. Also, in the comics when she was dating Johnny Storm, she had red hair. After she met Pietro, she was blonde. It kinda switches off from there. I chose blonde. If you want to find out more about Crystal, go to Google and type in 'marvel directory' and then click on the first one.  
  
InsaneBunneh- Duncan is Jean's ex-boyfriend on the show. You know the blonde guy who wears the varsity jacket?  
  
Also thanks for reviewing: Storm-Pietro, I Am The Anonymous Reviewer, rosie, sPoOkZ13412, la cour de belles fleurs, and zephyr. Please keep it up! Here's your cookies!  
  
Cookies (whatever kind you want) to all who review! R&R! 


	4. You Never Know, It Might Be Fun

Disclaimer- If I owned anything that Marvel does I'd be rolling in millions. Would be nice though . . .  
  
Author's Note- Just Enjoy!  
  
Chapter Four- You Never Know, It Might Be Fun  
  
All the red and pink and white decorations, with hearts plastered all over the place brought the painful reminder to Crystal that Valentine's Day was in sixteen days. She mentally groaned. Spending it with Duncan was not her idea of a great and romantic holiday.  
  
It was a shame that one of her *college* professors would sink so low as to hang cheap, cardboard hearts from the ceiling and tape the red, white, and pink streamers from one wall to across the room to the other. The woman was at least fifty-five, for Agon's sake! You decorate classrooms in elementary school, not college classrooms where *adults* come to learn! Crystal almost pitied her.  
  
Oliver Wade, a fellow student she got along with nicely, nearly retched at the sight of the room. Crystal had to stifle her laughter. At least it didn't make her feel the need to vomit. Luckily, Oliver hadn't.  
  
Professor Hector, a short, squat, middle-aged woman with thick pearly glasses that were attached to a pearl chain that went around her neck entered. She was wearing a bright red suit, with a white shirt with ruffles underneath. It sort of reminded Crystal of a pirate's shirt. Her hair was dyed a bright orange color, which she must have thought looked natural, and her skin was as saggy and wrinkled as an elephant's. Her thin lips were painted with a bright red lipstick, and her eyes were surrounded by blue eye shadow that reminded Crystal of Mimi from 'The Drew Carey Show'.  
  
"Hello, class," she said, her voice sounding awfully like that one monster from 'Monster's Inc'. What was her name? Crystal couldn't remember.  
  
"I would like to point out another thing in the news," she said, her voice grating on Crystal's ears like nails on a chalkboard. "As you know, mutants have been threatening our country for the last couple of years. I taped a report from the news; we are going to watch it. I want you to know how dangerous it is out there."  
  
Crystal rolled her eyes and sighed, resting her face in her hands. Some of the other students groaned. What did this have to do with economics?  
  
Professor Hector exited the room and then came back in, walking backwards and pulling a television of a cart in front of her. She centered it in the front of the room and turned the television on.  
  
"Mr. Lynch, would you please shut the lights?" She asked. Was it just Crystal, or did her voice sound . . . nasal today?  
  
Ron Lynch, a tall young man with red-brown hair got up exasperatedly and shut the lights off. He walked back to his desk and collapsed back into it.  
  
It was obvious Professor Hector was an avid mutant-hater, since she had shown them several videos about mutants and their 'obvious' desire for destruction.  
  
Crystal sighed and rested her elbow on her desk, placing the side of her face in her hand. Why did economics have to be so boring? Why weren't they even learning about economics?  
  
The screen was all fuzzy at first, and it blinked a few times until the picture cleared. Smoke seemed to be all over and people that were obvious mutants were destroying public or not so public property.  
  
It flashed back to one of the anchors at the studio. A crisp, neat, woman in about her late thirties with light brown hair pulled back into a tight bun showed up on the screen. Crystal doubted if the woman ever cracked a smile before.  
  
"It seems that mutant terrorists caused a disturbance in a suburb close to Bayville quite a few hours ago," she said in monotone.  
  
They showed the clip where a few burly mutants were ripping poles from the sidewalk. The anchor appeared again.  
  
"The X-Men came earlier to the scene today to stop the renegade mutants. So far, everything is well. Thank you and good day."  
  
Professor Hector turned the TV off from the back of the room with the remote control.  
  
She wasted class time on that piece of crap?  
  
"Instead of our usual class based on economics today, we are going to research a mutant that has been identified in Bayville. You will each choose one," she said.  
  
Crystal could not believe this! What did this have to do with economics? Crystal asked just that.  
  
"Mutants may threaten our economy one day, Ms. Amaquelin," the professor retorted, "Which has to do with economics."  
  
"You mean you want us to-to *snoop* into the privacy of these people just because of what they are?" she asked incredulously. Again, she could not believe this! Utter nonsense!  
  
Professor Hector gave her a frosty glare. "Not snoop per se, Ms. Amaquelin."  
  
"Then what?" Kristen Hooper asked from the back, snapping her gum loudly.  
  
"Investigate. These-these *things*, these *freaks* are a danger to society!" The professor said loudly. Crystal glared at her.  
  
She raised her hand. "I will not take part in this assignment. It is useless and will not help me for my future."  
  
"Do the assignment or don't take the class at all," Professor Hector seethed.  
  
Crystal looked at the old hag straight in the eyes, her glare never wavering, and she gathered up her books, grabbed her purse, and left the classroom. She did not notice that several other students out of the forty- three followed.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Crystal tossed her books and purse into her car. It was a Grand Pre, a very nice and fast car. It was silver in color and very shiny, and the interior was leather.  
  
But the car did not brighten Crystal's mood.  
  
She sat in the car and slammed the door shut. Putting the key into the ignition, she turned it and the engine started. Economics had been her last class for the day. Now not only was she angry, she was starving.  
  
She pulled the clutch into reverse and sped out of her parking spot and then switched it back and sped on out of there.  
  
She looked around for any kind of restaurants that she could eat in. There was a nice looking café. She pulled into their small parking lot.  
  
A bell tingled above her when she walked in. She sat at one of the booths and observed her surroundings.  
  
A few truck drivers were sitting up at the counter on swiveling stools. Two elderly ladies sat with each other at another booth. A young blonde woman of about twenty was sitting on a stool next to a man with...  
  
White hair.  
  
Crystal almost groaned. She thought about leaving but then decided not to. Maybe he just won't notice her.  
  
A waitress came over to her. She was snapping her gum loudly, and her bleached blonde curls were tied back into a ponytail and she was wearing bright red lipstick.  
  
"Can I get ya anything?" she asked in a bored tone.  
  
"Just a hotdog and coke, thanks," Crystal muttered. The waitress nodded and stalked off.  
  
Crystal glanced at Quicksilver again. He seemed to be with the woman but they weren't really talking to each other. He was ignoring his surroundings, reading the newspaper.  
  
Finally, the woman spoke; "Got any numbers today, Speedy?" she smirked.  
  
Quicksilver sighed, took a sip of his drink, and nodded.  
  
The woman smiled and grabbed his arm, pushing up the sleeve.  
  
"So, you gonna call...Ingrid?" Her brow furrowed at the name.  
  
"Are you kidding me?" Quicksilver snorted.  
  
"Was she hot?" The woman asked.  
  
"No, Tabitha, she was not hot. I was merely being polite," he replied, still reading the paper.  
  
"So she was hot?" she quirked an eyebrow.  
  
"She was hot," he said carefully, "But she was...nasally."  
  
"So you're not going to call her because her voice sounded nasally?" Tabitha asked, a grin spreading across her face.  
  
"Boom Boom, she had a voice like Fran Dresher," he said irritably.  
  
"Oh, so that about sums it up," Tabitha nodded in understanding.  
  
The waitress came back to Crystal's table with her food. She set it down with a clunk, and again stalked away. She went behind the counter and started flirting with Quicksilver.  
  
Crystal started eating the hotdog slowly, after putting ketchup and mustard on it. She listened into the conversation again.  
  
"Hey, handsome, why don't you call me?" The waitress winked, handing Quicksilver a little slip of yellow paper.  
  
He grabbed it without taking his eyes off of the paper and put it in his back pocket.  
  
"Sure thing," he said as if he really didn't mean it.  
  
The waitress batted her eyes, "Vicky's my name," she said in a flirtatious voice that sounded nauseating to Tabitha, Quicksilver, and Crystal.  
  
"Craig," he said, giving her an alias. Vicky let out a giggle and went into the kitchen in the back.  
  
"So," Tabitha smirked, "Is Speedy Gonzalez gonna call that one?"  
  
"Tabby, I gave her a fake name!" he said in a low voice.  
  
"Yeah, I guess you're right," Tabitha nodded, "That one's a nut job."  
  
Quicksilver smirked.  
  
Tabitha's eyes drifted over to where Crystal was eating and listening. A gleam entered her eyes. She leaned over to Quicksilver and whispered in his ear, her eyes never leaving Crystal. Crystal could feel herself blushing just a little bit.  
  
Quicksilver whipped his head around so fast Crystal thought he was going to unscrew his head. He smirked.  
  
He stood up and walked over to where she was sitting and slid into the booth opposite of her.  
  
He cocked his head to the side and studied her intently. Crystal began to feel self-conscious.  
  
"Are you sure you're not stalking me?" He asked, his chin resting on the palm of his hand.  
  
"I'm sure," Crystal seethed.  
  
"Liar, liar," he sang quietly. Crystal was just about to wring his neck.  
  
"Quick, hurry up!" Tabitha called from her stool.  
  
Quicksilver ignored her. Instead, he stuck out his hand for Crystal to shake. She took it hesitantly.  
  
"Pietro Maximoff," he introduced himself. Crystal didn't say anything for a while. He raised a dark eyebrow.  
  
"Crystalia Amaquelin," she muttered.  
  
"Pleased to meet you, Crystalia," he smirked. Great, now he was being bratty.  
  
"Likewise," she answered coldly. He smiled.  
  
"I was wondering if maybe I could have your number?" he asked. Crystal stared at him, surprised by the change the smile brought. His eyes lit up and he looked even more handsome, nothing like the usual cold and arrogant smirk she had seen him wear.  
  
"I-I have a boyfriend," she stammered.  
  
The smile melted back into a smirk. "Oh, yes. I forgot. Duncan Matthews? Former varsity captain, current dick?"  
  
Crystal felt a little bit of anger. "He is not."  
  
Pietro let out a short, bark of laughter. "Yeah, yeah, sure whatever you say," he looked at her, and his gaze softened slightly, "Look, I don't want to hurt your feelings or anything but if Matthews isn't cheating on you I'd shoot my leg. And if he doesn't break up with you before Valentine's Day, I'd cut my leg off."  
  
Crystal knew this must be some sort of a bluff, "I'm not sure I believe you."  
  
"You don't have to," he muttered, "but you must have noticed what my power is. Do you really think I'd say that if I weren't so sure about it? I run every day. It's my life."  
  
Crystal didn't say anything. She instead reached for her purse and pulled out a black pen. Grabbing his arm, she pushed up the sleeve. After writing seven numbers down, she leaned back and put the pen away. Pietro examined the number.  
  
"This isn't fake or anything?" he asked.  
  
"No," she answered honestly. He probably wouldn't call anyways.  
  
He smirked at her, "I'll call you," he slid out of the booth and walked over to Tabitha. They exited together, and Crystal watched him the whole time.  
  
She then felt a glare being aimed at her and she turned her head to her right and looked at the waitress. She looked livid.  
  
Crystal then paid, left a tip and exited the café.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Crystal was wrapping her wet hair into a towel when the phone rang. She sighed out of frustration and took another fluffy white towel from its place and wrapped it around her body.  
  
The phone was still ringing. She checked the caller ID. It said Darkholme, Raven, and then the number.  
  
She cautiously picked it up off the hook; half afraid it was a telemarketer calling.  
  
"Hello?" she said.  
  
"Hello." It was he. "It's Pietro Maximoff." She already knew that.  
  
"H-hi," she answered back hesitantly. Unconsciously, she gripped the towel tighter around her body.  
  
"You free?" he asked. He sounded casual and smooth, as if he did this often.  
  
"I, um, um," she was not sure what to say. Is it possible to embarrass yourself over the phone?  
  
"Yes or no?" he started to sound impatient.  
  
"N-well," she stuttered, starting to blush beet red, "Uh, y-yeah."  
  
"Good," he said, sounding satisfied.  
  
"Um, uh, when?" she asked, her stuttering calming some.  
  
"Tomorrow night? I'll pick you up at seven."  
  
"O-okay," she said. "B-bye."  
  
"Wait!"  
  
"What?" she asked. She was starting to gain her composure back.  
  
"Where do you live?"  
  
She told him which apartment complex she lived in and which room number.  
  
"Okee-dokee then," he said, his speech sort of hyper.  
  
"What, should I wear? Casual?" she asked.  
  
"Yeah, sure, casual, whatever," he said, sounding slightly distracted. There were screams and crashes in the back round.  
  
"GUYS! SHUT THE HELL UP, I'M ON THE PHONE!" his shouting was muffled but she heard him clearly.  
  
"Toad just leave my sister alone! Eeewww! You're so fucken gross it's not even funny," his voice was even more muffled now.  
  
"Sorry about that," he spoke into the receiver again. Crystal was curious at what was happening.  
  
"What was that?" she asked, her curiosity getting the better of her.  
  
"My roommates. I live with three other guys and my sister. Some sort of mutant team thingy," he said. He spoke again, his voice suddenly cautious and sort of accusing, "You don't mind mutants do you?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Good. See you tomorrow. Bye," he hung up before she could answer.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Crystal was getting ready for her date. She wore nice black pants that clung to her curves, and gym shoes. She wore a yellow silk tank top that showed off her breasts. She was putting in diamond studs when there was a knock on the door. She looked at herself in the mirror, puzzled for a moment. How could he have gotten in?  
  
She walked to the door and looked out of the eyehole. She opened it.  
  
"How on Earth did you get in?" she asked. He smirked at her.  
  
"Sometimes I'm too fast they can't see me, just snuck right in when somebody opened the door to come out. They didn't even bat an eye," he said proudly.  
  
Crystal stared at him. He was wearing normal blue jeans, but was wearing a light blue polo shirt with the first few buttons unbuttoned. Underneath was a white t-shirt. On his left ear was a silver stud.  
  
He raised an eyebrow at her, "You look good."  
  
Crystal knew she was blushing. To her horror, she was stuttering again. "Th- thanks. Y-you do to."  
  
He just smirked as if he was about to say, "I know" but he seemed to think better of it.  
  
Crystal was almost regretting giving him her number. What if Duncan caught her?  
  
'You never know,' a voice said to her, 'Might be fun.'  
  
She nodded. Pietro quirked his eyebrow up again.  
  
She looked down at the floor. "S-sorry," Damnation! Why was she stuttering?  
  
"I was going to drive but Lance wouldn't let me borrow his jeep," he said, looking a tiny bit sheepish, "And Wanda pointed out that I would kill you anyways if I drove."  
  
"What?" she asked incredulously, a little bit afraid.  
  
He grinned at her. "I'm not that good of a driver. Red lights, yellow lights, they're too slow."  
  
She grabbed her jacket from the couch and started to put it on. "Is everything too slow for you?"  
  
He looked a little bit sad. "Can't control how fast my brain works. Two minutes is like two hours to me. Here," he handed her purse to her. "I'm going to run us there. You like bowling?"  
  
She gave him a small smile. "Yeah, bowling sounds fun."  
  
He walked towards her and gave her a questioning look, "You ready? Got everything?"  
  
She nodded, walking over to the door and locking it. He scooped her up in his arms and she let out a surprised gasp. He just smirked.  
  
"I'd close your eyes," he said as he walked out into the hallway and closing the door. She did so.  
  
"And hang on to that purse very tightly," he added. She did so.  
  
"Better hang on to me tightly too," he added again. She wondered if he was doing this on purpose, but she wrapped her arms around his neck tightly anyways.  
  
She felt a strong wind against her face and started to feel slightly nauseous, and she buried her face into his neck, willing herself not to vomit. Then all of a sudden it stopped.  
  
"We're here," he said softly, gently setting her on her feet and gripping a hand around her arm to keep her steady.  
  
She moaned and slowly opened her eyes. Her eyes widened. "That was fast."  
  
"I'm Quicksilver. Of course it was fast. I'm the fastest living thing in the world," he bristled.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"Boo yeah!" Pietro cheered and punched a fist into the air. Crystal wrote down his score.  
  
"Who is God?" he taunted her. So far he had gotten strikes and spares. Lucky bastard.  
  
"Not you," she retorted and went to take her turn. She grabbed the ten- pound ball and stepped up to the line. She aimed, rolled her arm back and in one motion she moved it forward, letting the ball go. She knocked down eight pins, the remaining two all the way on the opposite sides of each other.  
  
"Ooh, you got yourself in a pickle there," Pietro smirked, twirling the pen in his fingers.  
  
Crystal scowled at him and aimed again. She released the ball and it rolled down the lane, knocking the left pin down.  
  
"Good game, good game," Pietro said, writing down her score.  
  
"Yeah, yeah," Crystal said, taking off the size eight rental shoes.  
  
Pietro rolled his shoulders back and then stretched his arms over his head. "Want ice cream or something? There's an Oberweiss about two blocks away."  
  
"Sure," Crystal said, tying the shoelaces of her own shoes. "Just, can we maybe walk there? When you ran, the wind hurt my face."  
  
Pietro looked slightly disappointed. "Yeah, sure, whatever."  
  
"Thanks," she said gratefully.  
  
"No problem," he said, grabbing both of their rental shoes to return them. He was back a minute later.  
  
"Bowling alleys are too slow," he said grumpily.  
  
"Live with it."  
  
"I do! It would just be a little bit better if they were faster!" he replied. Crystal will never understand his need for everything to be faster.  
  
After Pietro ran her back home after having ice cream, Crystal collapsed on to the couch. It had actually been a fun date.  
  
She wished he would call her again.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Hey! Yay! This chapter was long! Well, expect the next chapter around Valentine's Day! Ooh, their first date!  
  
Thanks for reviewing- InsaneBunneh, la cour de belles fleurs, sPoOkZ13412, and Testament1 and I Am The Anonymous Reviewer. Thanks for your review! Please keep reading and reviewing!  
  
Testament1- Thanks for reviewing 'The Silver-Tongued Mutant'! Yeah, I've been looking for any stories with Crystal in them, and unfortunately, there are very few. So I thought it was my duty to bring her in! But if you want to read an Evolution fic with Crystal in it, read Alison Sky's 'Maximoff Chronicles'. She's under my favorite authors. Crystal doesn't have a big part yet, but I'm betting she will. Keep reviewing!  
  
Brownies to all who review! 


	5. A Not So Bad Valentine's Day

Disclaimer- Refer back to chapter one.  
  
Chapter Five- A Not-So-Bad Valentine's Day  
  
February the fourteenth. The national holiday of love. Crystal was nervous about that day, since she was spending it with Duncan and was worried he would find out about the date she had with the one Pietro Maximoff.  
  
Crystal put on a snowy-white turtleneck and her dark blue jeans. Around her neck was a gold locket and on her ears were small gold hoops. She wore a lip-gloss that made her lips look shiny and smooth, and she wore mascara, black eyeliner, and silver eye shadow. Her green eyes looked back at her in her reflection. Dark golden blonde hair tumbled around her shoulders.  
  
She heard a buzzer in her living room/dining room. She hit the button on the intercom.  
  
"Duncan?" she asked uncertainly.  
  
"Yeah, let me in, Crystal, it's freezing."  
  
"I'll buzz you in," she replied and hit another button on the intercom. She unlocked the door and opened it, peering around the hallway to see Duncan coming up the stairs.  
  
"Come on," he said rather rudely.  
  
Crystal shut the lights off and locked her door, putting on her jacket. She followed Duncan.  
  
They arrived at the restaurant. It wasn't the most fancy place in the world, but they still had good food.  
  
Oh, my God, he's here.  
  
Pietro Maximoff was there, sitting at a little round table with his date. She was blonde and looked like she had been a cheerleader at some point or another. His back was turned to them. Duncan didn't seem to notice he was there, and Crystal wasn't going to say anything about it.  
  
Why is he always at the places I go to?  
  
The host led us to a table not too far away from them. Crystal prayed that Duncan wouldn't notice them.  
  
Duncan started talking. Crystal willed herself to listen to him and not stare at Pietro.  
  
"Look, Crystal, I've been doing some thinking," he said.  
  
"Yeah?" she swallowed.  
  
"Well, I like you and all but I don't really think it's gonna work out between us," he said this all casually as if he didn't care about her feelings at all.  
  
"You're dumping me?" she asked, her voice a whisper.  
  
"Yeah, sorry, but you just ain't my type. It wouldn't have worked out," he took a sip of water.  
  
"You're dumping me on-on Valentine's Day?" she asked incredulously. Her vision blurred ever so lightly.  
  
"Sorry, Crystal. Ya know what? I'll see you later. I really do have a date, I'm sorry it couldn't have worked out." He stood up and started leaving. Crystal stared at her plate.  
  
He left her. He left her alone in a restaurant with no means of transportation. She had never been so insulted or so embarrassed in her life.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Cindy was eating her peas one at a time. Pietro's eyes followed the fork from the plate to her mouth each time, watching her stab one-not two-but one pea and bringing it to her mouth. She had scooped her corn, but nooo, she had to eat her peas one at a time.  
  
What the hell was wrong with this woman? Who eats peas one at a time?  
  
"Ohh, I feel sorry for that woman over there," she said through a mouthful of pea, not peas, but pea. "She looks like she just got dumped. The guy just left her there. Poor, poor soul."  
  
Pietro needed a distraction from the one-pea-at-a-time woman and twisted his body to face the said woman. His jaw dropped. It was Crystal.  
  
What the HELL is she doing here?  
  
Wait; did Duncan just dump her on VALENTINE'S DAY?  
  
That bastard. He knew it!  
  
So he wouldn't have to cut his leg off after all.  
  
Pietro turned back to Cindy, looking to see how much peas she had left.  
  
His eyes widened. She must have at least thirty left! That's at least sixty agonizing seconds of her eating one pea at a time! He was NEVER going to call this woman again. She was a complete nut job.  
  
THREE minutes later she was done eating (finally!). Pietro paid the bill and got up.  
  
"You can leave without me, I don't live that far from here," he said, since he had run here and Cindy drove.  
  
"Are you sure?" she asked.  
  
"Yeah, bye," he said absently.  
  
"Buh-bye," she smiled, gave him a wink and left.  
  
Some people were starting to stare at Crystal now. Her eyes were red. Poor girl.  
  
He sat down across from her.  
  
"Hey," he said softly. She gasped and looked up, startled.  
  
"Hi," she choked out.  
  
"You want a ride home?" he asked. She shook her head.  
  
"Are you sure?" he asked.  
  
"Yeah, I called my friend, she's going to pick me up."  
  
"Do you want me to kick Duncan's ass?" he asked. She laughed a little.  
  
"Not now," she said.  
  
"Alright," he said, "I'll see you later?"  
  
"Okay," she looked at him and gave him a small smile.  
  
"Are you positive you don't need a ride?" he asked again.  
  
"I'm positive."  
  
"Okay, bye," he got up and left.  
  
"Bye," Crystal whispered after he was gone.  
  
Ten minutes later Val showed up with her boyfriend Jake.  
  
"Come on, Crys," she whispered to Crystal. Crystal nodded and stood up, following her.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Crystal had just taken a hot shower when there was a knock at her door. Without looking through the eyehole, she opened it.  
  
It was Pietro.  
  
He gave her a small smile and handed her a small bouquet of red roses. Crystal was speechless. She just stared at them in shock for a while.  
  
She did not notice Pietro lean over and plant his lips firmly against her right cheek.  
  
She froze, shivers running down her spine. Her heart pounded loudly, and she could feel the blood rush to her face and neck. Butterflies were fluttering in her stomach. His lips still lingered against her cheek.  
  
He pulled away, took a step back, and a minute later he was gone in a blur and a gust of wind.  
  
Crystal looked up from her flowers and stared at the spot she assumed he had been.  
  
She felt unexpected tears well up in her eyes. That had been the nicest thing any guy had ever done for her. She hastily retreated back into her apartment, locking the door behind her.  
  
She went into the small kitchen and searched the cabinets for her crystal vase that her mother had bought her. When she found it, she filled it up with water and put the roses inside of it. She then ran out of the kitchen and to the phone.  
  
She searched frantically through the Caller ID, looking for a specific name. She stopped when she saw Darkholme, Raven. She dialed the number.  
  
Her heart was pounding so loudly she was afraid she would not hear when the person picked up. On the fourth ring, someone answered.  
  
"Kitty?" a male voice asked hopefully.  
  
"N-no," she stammered, surprised by the greeting. "Is-is Pietro there?"  
  
The man sounded disappointed, "Yeah, yeah, he's here. Just a minute. PIETRO! PHONE!"  
  
Crystal heard the phone slam down on something hard, and more crashes and yelling. Pietro must live in an insane asylum!  
  
"Hello?" snapped an irritated voice. It was Pietro.  
  
"P-Pietro?" she asked hesitantly. Why must she stutter now!  
  
"Crystal?" he sounded surprised.  
  
"I was just calling to-to say thank you for the roses," she said, her chest tightening from nervousness, "That was very nice of you."  
  
"Oh-oh, it was nothing," he said. He sounded out of breath.  
  
"I-I was also wondering if you're free Friday night?" she asked in a very quiet tone.  
  
A pause. "Yeah," he said finally.  
  
Crystal sighed in relief.  
  
"You wanted to do something?" he asked her in a knowing way.  
  
"Yeah...yeah," she breathed.  
  
"Want to go skiing?" he asked.  
  
"Are there any ski resorts close to Bayville?" she asked.  
  
"Dunno, I'll look for one," he said. "I'll call you."  
  
"Kay, uh, bye," she swallowed.  
  
"Happy Valentine's Day, Crystal," he said. "Bye."  
  
Crystal breathed, butterflies fluttering in her stomach. "Happy Valentine's Day."  
  
He hung up.  
  
It hadn't been a really bad Valentine's Day after all.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Wow, that was fast! But that's good, right? Not as long as my last chapter, but I think it was good overall. I made Duncan a jerk. He needs some bashing. Okay, this chapter might be a little too fluffy but I wanted Pietro to do something really nice, and this seemed like the nicest thing he could do.  
  
closet geek- Thanks for your review! I hope you keep up with this!  
  
I Am The Anonymous Reviewer- How'd you like the brownies? Thanks for reviewing! If you stop, I'm seriously going to thwack you. ;-)  
  
Caliente- You loved it! With capital letters too! Pietro and Crystal will definitely have their fights, no couple is perfect. Not even Scott and Jean (remember the Cyclops/Psylocke kiss?). I actually love the Pietro/Crystal pairing. Though, if I were Crystal I wouldn't be cheating on Quicksilver, I'd be worshipping him. You'll also be seeing some of Pietro's temper, since he undoubtedly has one. I was going to use that Dung-can thing last chapter but decided not to, but I'll be using it soon. I see a bruised Duncan in the future... Thanks for your review! I hope you stick with this story!  
  
Also thanks for reviewing: la cour de belles fleurs, sPoOkZ13412, zephyr, rosie, and Pauline L. You guys rock! 


	6. McDonald's

Disclaimer- I'm not even going to bother saying this anymore...  
  
Author's Note- Slight warning here, but there are sexual references in this chapter. No, they don't have sex, and the mentions are very mild. Just organs and stuff. Just read to find out. Enjoy!  
  
Chapter Six- McDonald's  
  
Pietro had resorted to stalking. Ironic too, since it was he who had kept accusing Crystal that she was stalking him. Right now, it was the other way around. He wasn't that great of a stalker, since he only started two days ago, but he was getting the hang of it. If he was in Crystal's place, he would be generally creeped out, but since he's not and he didn't want her to see him, she didn't need to be creeped out. Which is fine, since he still had to go on a date with her.  
  
He watched her from the gaps in the bookshelves inside of the college library. She was looking at a book, a green Eastsport backpack slung over her left shoulder. Man, was she hot. He averted his eyes from her.  
  
Usually Pietro didn't stalk his dates, but Crystal was an exception. Usually between dates, he would go out with other people, which was exactly what he was doing but it wasn't as drastic as it was in high school. Maybe date two or three girls. Maybe four.  
  
But seriously, she was hot.  
  
Pietro went to look at her again. She was gone.  
  
Oh my God, where'd she go?  
  
Pietro stepped back from the bookcase and turned and almost let out a girly shriek but managed to hold it in.  
  
Crystal was staring right at him, probably exactly a foot away from him. She was looking at him curiously, her head cocked to the side. Her cheek protruded slightly as she rolled her tongue around inside of her mouth.  
  
Her mouth pulled to the side in a sort of satisfied smile when she stopped moving her tongue around. "What are you doing?" she asked in a sickeningly sweet tone.  
  
"I-uh-uh," he struggled to find the right words, "Looking for a book. Stuff..." he reached blindly behind him on the bookshelf and grabbed one. He opened it to the middle page and faked a look of interest on his face. He stared at the page, not really seeing anything.  
  
Crystal put most of her weight on her left foot and leaned forward a bit, reading the title.  
  
"The Joy of Sex?" she asked him, quirking up an eyebrow. Pietro blinked a couple of times and inhaled sharply through his nose.  
  
"Yes. Yes it is," he said stiffly. He closed it and put it back where it came from.  
  
"Do you go to this university?" she asked him, smiling slightly in amusement.  
  
"No. I-I-I'm just here to look at the library. Great selections on books," he grabbed another book off the shelf and began to read:  
  
"A woman's cli-" he snapped the book shut immediately, staring straight ahead.  
  
He inhaled and exhaled through his nose very sharply, "Apparently this whole section is about sex."  
  
Crystal gave him a grin and nodded. "Do you enjoy that subject?"  
  
"Ye-NO," his neck started to turn pink, the flush quickly spreading up to his ears.  
  
Her grin grew larger and was even more amused. Gently, she took the book from his hands, opened it and began to read:  
  
"A Woman's Body Parts and Organs by Madame Frebreasha." Pietro tried to grab the book away from her. Crystal only grinned more...evilly...and was turning around and walking away every time he tried to grab it.  
  
"Crystal!" Pietro hissed, making a mad grab at it.  
  
"Women have a few distinguishable body parts. There are the breasts, which feed the offspring after they are born, and the vagina, or clitoris..." She dodged Pietro again.  
  
"Look, Pietro! They even have a picture of a naked woman! My, my, look how large her breasts are, do you think they're fake?" she asked him innocently and tried to show him the picture. Pietro jumped back and covered his face with his arms as if he was just blinded by a bright light.  
  
"Crystal! Stop!" he begged.  
  
"No, no, just tell me if you think they're fake," Crystal asked, shoving the book closer to Pietro's face.  
  
Pietro moved his arm out of the way slightly and one bright cerulean blue eye peeked at the picture cautiously. He swallowed and screwed his eyes shut.  
  
"Fakefakedefinatelyfake," he muttered in hyper speech, his voice higher than normal.  
  
Crystal nodded in agreement. "Yes, yes I thought so."  
  
She closed the book and placed it back on the shelf, "Well, that person wasn't a very good author anyways. She'd loose her readers from sentence three. Unless, they just look at the pictures and things."  
  
"Want to go get some McDonalds or something? I just had my last class," she asked him.  
  
He looked at her in surprise, then smiled slightly, "Sure. Sure, why not?"  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"You eat *a lot*," Crystal said, as she watched him eat his fifth hamburger while she was halfway through her first. She took a sip of her strawberry shake, still watching him. Pietro had three shakes in front of him, a Coke, a box of twenty chicken nuggets, three large fries, and two cheeseburgers and a double cheeseburger. How much can this guy actually eat?  
  
"You eat too slow," he retorted, stuffing the last of the hamburger in his mouth and then grabbing the double cheeseburger and unwrapping it, taking a large bite out of it. He grabbed his vanilla shake and drank about three- quarters of it in one sip.  
  
Crystal looked away from him for a second to grab some of her fries. Stuffing a few into her mouth, she looked at him and nearly choked. There were two cheeseburger wrappings and a double cheeseburger wrappings that were not there five seconds ago. Pietro was just stuffing the last of his final cheeseburger into his mouth when she decided to comment.  
  
"That's gross," she told him, "the way you eat. It's way too fast."  
  
Pietro rolled his eyes, took a sip of the strawberry shake (the chocolate and vanilla were gone) and said, "At least I eat neat. You should meet Freddy, the food goes everywhere and he eats as much as me. More, actually."  
  
Crystal watched him again as he set down the empty cup and attacked his third thing of fries. He was rather interesting to watch.  
  
She finished her hamburger and started eating her fries again. He was now finishing his Coke, the fries finished.  
  
"Want the rest of my fries?" she asked him, "I'm full."  
  
His eyes widened. "You barely ate anything! You only had a hamburger!"  
  
"You ate enough for five of us, Pietro," she retorted, shoving the box of fries in his hands.  
  
He gave her a mock scowl as he finished her fries. They left (but not before Pietro bought an apple pie for the 'ride home') and Crystal pulled up to the boarding house he lived in.  
  
She was rather surprised by how old and worn down it looked. Shutters were hanging off their hinges, paint was chipped off the door, windows were cracked and broken, and the lawn had innumerable weeds.  
  
"Wanna come in for awhile?" he asked her as he opened his side of the door.  
  
Crystal smiled, "Sure. Anybody home?"  
  
"Uh," he gave a nervous look to the house. "Yeah, someone might be. Let's hope the impossible and pray that they went somewhere and are not sitting in front of the TV."  
  
To Pietro's dismay (from what Crystal could see from his expression) the others were at home. The large man she saw at the store was sitting in front of the TV, eating something, and Crystal assumed he was Fred. She did not know the others though.  
  
"Yo, Pietro!" a voice sounded from the stairway, and Crystal turned to see the frog-like man jump down the stairs frantically.  
  
Pietro gave him an irritated look. "What?" he snapped.  
  
"Tell your sister to chill out! She's tryin' to kill me again!" he begged, looking hastily over his shoulder for the Scarlet Witch.  
  
"Todd, just give it up with Wanda. She doesn-" he stopped abruptly. "Are those my clothes?!"  
  
"Yeah, you see," Todd laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his neck as Pietro's face and neck grew red, "You have such good tastes in clothes, I'd thought I'd, uh, borrow them to impress Wanda and stuff."  
  
"Those. Are. My. Clothes." Pietro said slowly, which wasn't an easy feat for him.  
  
"Yeah, but, you're a nice guy and stuff...sometimes. Maybe this one time," he gulped, "you could maybe let me borrow them?"  
  
Pietro narrowed his eyes. "Excuse me, Crystal," he muttered and walked forward, grabbed Todd by the collar, and dragged him up the stairs.  
  
"Pietro! Yo! What are you doin'? Oh, c'mon man!" Todd whined as he struggled from the speedster's grip.  
  
Crystal felt vulnerable without somebody next to her. She looked around the house. It was filthy. A crash sounded from upstairs, and her head snapped up to look at the ceiling. Screams and curse words were muffled loudly. A door slammed shut.  
  
Pietro then appeared next to her, as if by magic. She gasped at him in surprise.  
  
"Sorry about that," he muttered. "Uh, maybe you should leave now. I'll see you Friday."  
  
Crystal smiled and nodded and was just about to walk away when she heard a male voice shout:  
  
"Son of a bitch! Toad! Put some fucking CLOTHES on!"  
  
She swallowed, looked back at Pietro, who was staring intently at her and she smiled again, waved and left.  
  
As she started to enter her car, she felt a slight tremor in the earth, as though an earthquake just occurred. She shook her head slightly and reversed.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Yay! Another chapter! Hoped you liked this one!  
  
Caliente- I actually had to look up the word 'monogamous'. But yeah, he's not really a one-woman person. He doesn't consider him and Crystal an actual 'item'. But it will all change...just you wait. Thanks for your review!  
  
InsaneBunneh- Actually, I didn't ignore you because you didn't review when I posted the other chapter. So THERE! *sticks out tongue* Oh? Nothing special on March 2? Of course, it's only my birthday...Don't worry though, I have plans on April 20th. Really important stuff that can't be ignored, you know. Hang out with my friends, go to fun places with my friends and not with you. Stuff like that. SPEAKING of birthdays, mine's coming up, and I need some floppy disks and I'm too lazy to go out and buy them. I guess I have to thank you for reviewing, don't I?  
  
Also thanks for reviewing- closet geek, sPoOkZ13412, I Am The Anonymous Reviewer, Pauline L., la cour de belles fleurs, Wind Rider 2000, and zephyr. 


	7. Too Many Women, So Little Time

Disclaimer- I don't own nothing.  
  
"I may brood about many things, Ms. Grey...But I assure you, my father's richly deserved fate is not one of them. I was debating the merits of visiting my wife and child before I returned to X-Factor...and making one last effort to save my marriage."  
  
– Quicksilver, Blood Ties, part I of V, Avengers/X-Men crossover.  
  
Chapter Seven- Too Many Women, So Little Time  
  
Pietro ushered Trisha to the front door hurriedly. She seemed to be stalling on leaving, and Pietro did not like that. His patience was growing short.  
  
Trisha stood on the porch, batting her eyelashes at him. "You were great..." she purred, giving him a wink, and tracing his jaw with her index finger. He smirked arrogantly at her (like he hadn't known that already). It was rather forced, because she was really starting to get on his nerves and he had to get ready for his ski trip with Crystal later.  
  
"Yeah. Youtoobye," he said hurriedly and gave her a small shove out the door. She blew him a kiss and practically skipped to her Buick. He slammed the door shut and let out a breath he had been holding.  
  
Distantly, her heard his cell phone ring and he zipped off to get it from his nightstand. On the screen it said, Mary Gallagher. He sighed.  
  
"Hello, Mary."  
  
"Hi!" she giggled, "How did you know it was me?"  
  
"I'm psychic," he drawled with a bit of sarcasm. She didn't seem to notice. She giggled instead. Why were women so gosh-darn giggly?  
  
"So, are ya busy today?" she asked excitedly, and Pietro could hear her chomping on her gum through the phone.  
  
"Actually, yeah, I am," Pietro answered; relieved he already had a date that day. He couldn't take any of these women anymore! Granted, he loved the attention and all but seriously, it was getting to be too much. Why did they seem to get more stupid every time he picked them?  
  
She sounded disappointed. In fact, she sounded like she was going to cry, "Oh. Oh, okay then. I'll see you." She hung up the phone. Pietro let out a sigh of relief. His eyes glanced at the digital clock and it said he had about an hour to get ready and go to the nearest ski resort, where Crystal would be waiting for him.  
  
He was about to start walking to get in the shower when he stopped, and laughed. He didn't need an hour! It would take him less than a minute to shower, dress, shave, etc.  
  
He sighed. Too many women, so little time. Well, they had too little time; he didn't. It'd be great if he could fit fifty dates in on one day, but they would have to be cool with having a two-minute date.  
  
He sped over to the armchair and stole the remote right out of Fred's hand. Fred looked dumbfounded and confused for a whole minute before he realized what happened. He turned his head sharply over to Pietro, and glared at him.  
  
"I was using that!" he said. Pietro ignored him and continued flipping through the channels at abnormal speed. Freddy glanced at the television and couldn't even register a picture.  
  
"Could you slow down? I can't see anything!" he complained. Pietro fixed an annoyed look on his face and slowed down. To Fred, there wasn't even a difference, but he didn't say anything more about it.  
  
"Like, Lance that's so sweet!" A familiar female voice said near the entrance of the house. Fred and Pietro scowled, although Pietro didn't take his eyes away from the television.  
  
Lance stepped into the living room and started threatening them, "Kitty's here, so don't do anything rude or obnoxious in front of her. We just made up, I don't want to ruin it."  
  
Kitty then entered and gave them a reluctant greeting, "Hey."  
  
Fred muttered 'hi' back and Pietro made a quiet noise in the back of his throat, his concentration still set on the TV.  
  
"Kitty, sorry they're here, but Pietro's going on a date in an hour and Fred's going to his room," Lance gave Fred a very pointed glare, "So we'll have this room to ourselves to watch the movie."  
  
Kitty shrugged. "Okay."  
  
"Argh!" Pietro screamed in frustration and threw the remote across the room. "There's nothing on!" He jumped to his feet and zoomed out of the room.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Meanwhile, getting ready for a certain skiing trip...  
  
Crystal brushed her hair out. It fell about her shoulders like a blonde curtain and down to about the middle of her back. She had her makeup on, and she wore a nice, soft, fuzzy kind of sweater that was a light blue, and underneath it was a white turtleneck and she was also wearing form-fitting dark blue jeans. Examining herself in the mirror, Crystal was satisfied.  
  
She started humming to herself happily as she exited her apartment, and walked through the building and out the front door and to her very shiny and expensive Grand Prix.  
  
It took about an hour to drive there but she knew she was on time and that's what mattered to her. Being on time.  
  
She entered the little lodge and noticed that it didn't have too many people in it, which was a good thing, because she never really like crowded areas. They made her nervous.  
  
He was already there, sitting on the sofa, with his leg crossed over the other like men usually have them. He was sipping a mug of hot chocolate, his fingers tapping on the side of the glass every once in awhile and he was seemingly flirting with one of the women that worked there.  
  
It was very, very ironic that he had arrived first because, well, first of all, he started getting ready exactly five minutes before and second of all, Crystal had been primping herself up for the past two hours. Then again, maybe it wasn't so ironic because he was the fastest living thing in the WHOLE wide world.  
  
Crystal felt nervous butterflies in her stomach and she took a hesitant step towards him. Then another. With more courage now, she started walking to him, albeit rather slowly. His eyes flickered from the other woman to her, and he smirked, getting up from his seat and walked (if you can call THAT walking) right up to her. She halted rather abruptly and with surprise.  
  
"Hello, Crystal," he greeted her, giving her his smirk. She liked it better when he smiled.  
  
"Hello," she said slowly, and a very, very, very, brief look of impatience and irritation shown on his handsome features.  
  
"You want hot chocolate or would you rather ski first?" he asked her, showing her his mug of hot chocolate to emphasize.  
  
"I-I think we should ski first," she answered, her eyes glancing briefly at the woman that he had been seemingly flirting with; and who was also giving Crystal the 'evil' eye.  
  
'Too bad, I had him first,' Crystal caught herself thinking, blushing slightly.  
  
Pietro had noticed where her eyes had strayed but he said nothing about it, his brain reacting faster than his mouth for once. Instead, he gave her a half-smirk half-smile and nodded, "Okay, come on then," he said and gulped the rest of his hot drink down and setting it on a table that seemed to appear out of nowhere. Grabbing Crystal's arm with his hand, he led her out of the lodge and out to the ski place where they transport people to the top of the hill or mountain thing where they would begin skiing.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Since the author is lazy and doesn't feel like writing the whole part where they were skiing, she is just going to skip to the part where they are back in the lodge, drinking hot, hot cocoa, and having a grand old time.  
  
So anyways, they're back in the lodge, drinking hot cocoa, and having a grand old time. That was until-  
  
"Oh, my GAWD! Pietro darling!"  
  
That.  
  
Pietro choked slightly on his drink, and looked around the lodge in alarm, eyes widened slightly. Crystal looked around too; curious as to who DARED disturbed their grand old time.  
  
A short, but very pretty and very seemingly plastic woman came trotting up to Pietro, practically jumping into his lap and wrapping her arms around his neck, and cooing to him. Scratch that; that is exactly what she did.  
  
"Uh, uh," Pietro stuttered in panic, feeling his face growing hot.  
  
"You said you weren't doing anything today! Oh! Isn't this GREAT that we both happened to be here? Isn't it GREAT?" she said bubbly (?) and nuzzled her nose against his, ala Eskimo kiss.  
  
Pietro drew his head back, still stuttering incoherent gibberish. The woman who had pounced on him was in fact, Mary Gallagher. A short, bubbly, boisterous, petite brunette who was practically in LOVE with the speed demon. She started giving him big, wet, kisses all over the poor soul's face. Vainly, he tried to push her away, but she held on tight. Crystal had been watching the whole thing with a cool stare, absolutely pissed off; at the speedster and at the woman who insisted on ruining their date (which HAD been going quite well).  
  
She stood up and started putting on her coat and stuff to leave, heading for the door. Pietro finally managed to push the obsessive woman off of his lap, and he followed her.  
  
"Crystal, wait!" he called. She kept walking.  
  
"Crystal!" he practically whined, grabbing her arm. She shook it off.  
  
"Obviously, you have a few others to keep you...entertained instead of me," she snarled over her shoulder, leaving him standing there alone in the ski lodge.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Hey y'all! What? What was that? Who won 11 Academy Awards? LORD OF THE RINGS, BABY! Yeah! Eat THAT!!!  
  
*Ahem* I...apologize for my sudden outburst. Will not happen again.  
  
Oh, and a couple of chapters ago, I spelt Grand Pre wrong. It's spelt Grand Prix. How *silly* of me!  
  
Caliente- Yes, meeting the BH is an experience indeed. I feel sorry for her. Actually, I feel sorry for whomever Lance is dating (Kitty) because he's the most sane and least crazy out of the bunch. Pietro, I think, is the looniest. An Inhuman is...something. Nobody knows. Not even the creators. Well, yeah they probably know but oh well. But anyways, yeah, I think they're some sort of alien. I haven't read that many comics to know. Yes...it is love. Thanks for your review! Hope you liked this chapter!  
  
InsaneBunneh- You know what would be a GREAT birthday present? Floppy disks. Yep. Floppy disks. Also, part II, III, IV, and V of 'Bloodties'. The 2nd is in Uncanny X-men, the next in Avengers, and so forth. Not like you would get me that anyways... Thanks for your review.  
  
Also thanks for reviewing- sPoOkZ13412, I Am The Anonymous Reviewer, Pauline L., zephyr, la cour de belles fleurs, rosie, and Wind Rider 2000! You guys rock my socks!  
  
IT'S MY BIRTHDAY!!! (march 2nd) And do you know what would be GREAT gifts? REVIEWS! 


	8. It's Hard, Getting Over Something Like T...

Disclaimer- "Jimmy's busted some new moves, look at Jimmy move... OWWW! Jimmy's down!"  
  
"You just couldn't keep up with me. I mean, I can keep four girls busy dancing at the same time."  
  
-Pietro Maximoff, Quicksilver, Shadowdance  
  
Chapter Eight- It's Hard, Getting Over Something Like That  
  
Pietro actually, was getting along all right without Crystal. In his opinion, they've only been on three- no two and a half- dates so that did not make them boyfriend/girlfriend, hence no break up. Besides, he was a love 'em and leave 'em kind of guy, and also didn't really like going out with one woman at the same time. He did take four girls to the Sadie Hawkin's Dance, after all.  
  
"So, tell me about yourself..." he struggled to remember the Puerto Rican's name that was sitting across from him, "Monica. Monica."  
  
She raised her eyebrow slightly, but smiled all the same. She had slipped her foot out of her flip-flop and it was now traveling up and down his calf under his pant leg.  
  
"Well," she said, her manicured nail idly making tiny circles and swirls on the red and white-checkered tablecloth in front of them. "Both my parents are from Puerto Rico. I have two older brothers and younger twin brothers and a little sister's on the way."  
  
Pietro nodded in interest, or at least, he was pretending to be interested. He really didn't give a damn about her family. What he wanted to know is if she was easy or not.  
  
"What about hobbies, er, interests?" he asked, leaning forward more. Her foot was still traveling up his calf.  
  
She blushed a little bit. "Well, I do like reading, and I love writing poetry. I play soccer for my high school. I'm graduating this year."  
  
"Ah, so you're still in high school?" he asked, taking a sip from the straw of his soda in front of him.  
  
"Yeah, er, uh, are you in school?" she asked, finishing it meekly.  
  
Pietro sadly shook his head, although in reality, he was not sad at all. "No, I got expelled just for being born with a little something...extra."  
  
She leaned forward in interest, her chin resting on her fists. "What? Are you a-a," she leaned forward more and lowered her voice drastically, "a mutant?"  
  
Pietro leaned back, resting his right arm across the back of his chair, and he studied his fingernails on his left hand casually. "Does it bother you?" He buffed his nails on his shirt.  
  
"Oh, uh, no!" she said, speaking quickly as if he would run away, "No, it doesn't bother me at all!"  
  
Pietro decided he was bored with this woman, and looked at his wristwatch. "Oh, I better be getting home soon. My twin's not feeling well, and I thought I'd pick up some medicine on the way back. I'll drop you off?"  
  
Monica looked sadly at her empty plate. Slowly, she slid off the seat and grabbed her purse, putting back on her flip-flop. Pietro put an arm around her waist and escorted her to Lance's jeep.  
  
He opened the passenger's side and bowed slightly. She climbed in, and Pietro zipped to the other side and put the key into the ignition and then stepped on the gas. Now in truth, Pietro wasn't that great of a driver, in fact, Kitty Pryde was even a better driver than him, and that was saying a lot.  
  
They stopped at a decent looking house, and Monica exited the jeep, saying a good bye, and then trotted up the sidewalk and into the front door. Two twin boys were swinging baseball bats at each other on the front lawn.  
  
After hitting a few signs, and nearly running over an innocent pedestrian, Pietro made it back home to the Brotherhood Boarding House. Smoothing his hair back, Pietro entered, stole the remote from Todd, and lazily started channel surfing at an unnatural pace.  
  
"Ya know, one of these days we're gonna gain up on you, yo," Toad huffed, sulking off to the kitchen.  
  
"G'day, mate," a familiar Australian accent said, and Pietro turned towards the voice, spotting a wiry figure in his red costume, his whole upper body hidden behind a large cardboard box.  
  
St. John Allerdyce, better known as Pyro, dropped the box in front of him, dusted off his hands, and grinned at Pietro.  
  
"Looks like your gettin' some new stuff," he said, placing his hands on his hips.  
  
Pietro stopped channel surfing. "You're not moving in, are you?" he asked warily. Pyro spent almost every second of his life inside of the house, burning stuff and eating their food.  
  
"What? An' move into this shit house? No siree, mate, your dad's place is much better than this," he looked around, "Although, there's a lot more to burn here..."  
  
Pietro jumped off and started pushing John towards the door. "Okay, Pyro, you're done here. Tootles, bye, see ya."  
  
"Now wait just a second, you bloody figjam, why are you pushing me?" Pyro asked irritably, digging his heals into the floor. However, since the floor was wood, it did not help him and Pietro shoved him out of the door.  
  
"Just GO, Pyro," and Pietro slammed the door.  
  
"Weeell, now who's cranky? Well hooroo to you too!" Pyro's voice became quieter and quieter as he walked farther away, rambling about rude 'figjams' and ungrateful people.  
  
Pietro, not bothering to understand a word of Australian slang, just went back and settled back in the couch, channel surfing again.  
  
Wanda walked in, leaning against the doorway.  
  
"Did you just throw out our box-moving guy?" she asked.  
  
"I didn't want to deal with him."  
  
Wanda rolled her eyes, strolled in and sat next to him on the couch, snatching the channel selector out of his hands and shutting the television off.  
  
"John's moving boxes for us, bro. Well, on account we buy him stuff, but that's not the point. He's a lot cheaper than actual professional people that bring furniture in and out. He's doing some good deeds. Now why the hell did you just shove him out of the front door?"  
  
"I just didn't want to put up with the insane wacko, okay?" he snapped, very annoyed.  
  
It did not faze Wanda in the slightest. "Are you upset about that one girl dumping you?"  
  
"She did not dump me! We weren't even boyfriend and girlfriend!"  
  
"She was pretty and you regret not 'feeling her up' or something worse. You have no respect for the opposite sex at all. All you think about is that they're only good for...well...sex."  
  
"I do not!" Pietro defended himself, kicking the corner of the coffee table.  
  
"Oh yes you do! You are probably one of the most shallowest people I've ever met in my entire life, Pietro," Wanda said, her voice rising slightly.  
  
"So? All guys are shallow in one way or another! Hey, maybe I like their personality! Can't she have a great personality and still be hot?" Pietro argued, crossing his arms across his chest.  
  
Wanda leaned forward and slapped him lightly on the cheek.  
  
"Suure," she said, her voice laced with a bit of sarcasm, "but they're kinda rare, ya know?"  
  
Pietro slapped her hand away.  
  
"Did you like her?" Wanda grabbed the remote again, spreading across the couch and resting her feet on Pietro's lap.  
  
He shrugged one shoulder, moving his feet to rest on the coffee table. "She was hot. And she was fun."  
  
Wanda smirked as she settled on watching an episode of 'King of the Hill'. It was the very first episode, where Bobby plays baseball and wound up getting a black eye.  
  
"Bobby, keep your eye on the ball!"  
  
"What?"  
  
"Keep your eye on the-"  
  
WACK!  
  
Wanda laughed out loud as she watched fat little Bobby Hill get knocked to the earth.  
  
Pietro stared at her, and shook his head slightly. Wanda, sensing his gaze turned to him and gave him a little smirk.  
  
"I think you need to settle down to just one girl, little brother."  
  
Pietro narrowed his eyes. "We both know I'm older. Really, I'm tired of trying to explain that to you. But about settling to one girl- uh, she might not be ready. Ya know, getting over something like that, it's hard."  
  
She raised an eyebrow and her smirk grew wider, "Who said anything about her? But since you think she's the right one to do it with...Go call her. Make up. Beg for a second chance, and if she doesn't accept, I'll go over there myself and hex some sense into her. She might've calmed down a bit, it's been about three months."  
  
Pietro sighed.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Crystal was rather glad she had walked instead of driven. It was sunny out, and the warm wind felt good as it gently caressed her skin. The sky darkened and she looked up at it, and not a cloud was in it...  
  
"Oh darn," she said meekly as she spotted the gigantic black rain cloud just above her head. A large drop of water splattered on the tip of her nose, and then another, and another. She quickened her pace as the drizzle became a sudden downpour, and she found herself turning the corner, where her apartment building was standing.  
  
She was soaked to the bone and wanted to get inside as quickly as possible, but stopped just short of the steps when she saw who was standing next to the entrance doors, leaning casually against the wall with his arms crossed against his chest, sopping wet silver-white hair plastered to his forehead. Her eyes narrowed.  
  
Pietro Maximoff.  
  
She took a deep breath and journeyed up the six steps, attempting to walk right past him and into the building without saying a word.  
  
But he would not have it like that, so he reached out and grabbed her arm with super speed, pulling her back.  
  
"Pietro," she growled, "It's cold. Let me go."  
  
He smirked, "No," he said simply.  
  
"Let me go or I'll scream," she warned, trying to tug her arm out of his grip. But he pulled her towards him, until she was just less than a foot away.  
  
"Just hear me out, okay?" he asked, still gripping her small arm tightly. She stopped struggling and looked up at him, bright jade eyes narrowed.  
  
"It's raining," she stated. Pietro nodded slightly, but didn't move. Crystal sighed and relaxed, reluctant to let heavy and cold rain to touch her.  
  
"Okay, I'm sorry I was dating other woman when I was dating you, okay? I just didn't see it as a big deal, ya know, since we weren't boyfriend or girlfriend," he explained.  
  
"Yeah, and you probably slept with them too, on the first date, might I add," she muttered, "Hell, you didn't even kiss me and we went out a couple of times. Not a peck on the cheek or-"  
  
Her sentence was cut short as his lips made contact with hers, his hands cupping her face. Cautiously, he parted his lips a bit, and instinctively Crystal parted hers, and he slipped his tongue in. Pleasant shivers traveled Crystal's spine and she felt her knees buckle, and just as she was about to collapse, he parted, her face still cupped in his hands.  
  
He gave her a small lopsided smile, which Crystal decided immediately that it was much cuter than his usual smirk. It gave him a look of innocence, something she doubted he had at all.  
  
"Oh," she said faintly.  
  
"Are we on good terms then?" he asked softly.  
  
"S-sure," she secretly wanted him to kiss her again. She barely noticed the rain at all.  
  
"Well, I got to be going then. Take a hot shower so you don't get sick," and he gave her the barest hint of a smile, leaned forward as Crystal's eyes began to droop and gave her a gentle kiss on her forehead. When Crystal opened her eyes, he was gone.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Yay! Their first kiss! So, how was this chapter? I'm writing as many chapters of my stories as I can so I can finish a few of them quicker so I could start writing my other stories. After a few chapters of Blood Is Thicker Than Water, I'll be updating this story and In Dreams more. I want to get five more updates of both stories before I post another chapter of another story.  
  
Pyro had no point whatsoever in this chapter except just to be there. But that's good enough, right? Figjam is a Aussie slang for someone who things very highly of themselves.  
  
As always, thanks for your reviews! Constructive criticism and ideas are welcome! So if you have a specific date in mind for Pietro/Crystal, be free to share your idea, I might put it in.  
  
Like it? Hate it? Either way, review! 


	9. Friendly Lions and Tigers, Vicious Monke...

Disclaimer- "168 miles from Chicago, we got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark, and we're wearing sunglasses."  
  
Author's Note- Idea for their date is from InsaneBunneh.  
  
Chapter Nine- Friendly Lions and Tigers, Vicious Monkeys and Ducks  
  
The zoo. The last place Pietro ever expected to be, especially on a date.  
  
Pietro glanced at Crystal out of the corner of his eye. She was smiling at the ducks in the little pond, watching as the kids hopped across built-in steppingstones. The pond was only about a foot deep, but that wasn't the danger of that place.  
  
A sign was nailed to a stake near the pond and it read: Beware of Ducks (We Attack!). Now, that wasn't something Pietro had been expecting signs to say, more like things like: Beware of Lions (We Eat People!). Or: Beware of Tigers (I bite!).  
  
"Oh!" Crystal gasped, clamping a hand over a mouth as Pietro turned and saw a little boy bend down to pet a white, feathery, and very friendly looking duck, when all of a sudden it let out some weird hiss, raised it's wings, and chased after the poor little boy, quacking in some weird and vicious way. Pietro grabbed Crystal's hand, and tugged her away from the scene.  
  
"C'mon, let's go see the monkeys," he said, dragging Crystal behind him.  
  
"Oh, but that boy's in trouble! What if he seriously gets injured?" Crystal asked, trying to tug her hand out of his grip, but he held on tight.  
  
"He's fine, let's go, I wanna see the monkeys," Pietro repeated, tugging on her harder. She followed reluctantly. Behind them, a zookeeper was trying to shoo the duck away from the boy with a broom, but more ducks were swarming in.  
  
They stopped outside of the monkey house, and Pietro was about to enter when Crystal pulled him back.  
  
"You have to read the warning signs before you enter a place, Pietro," she said, reading the sign nailed to the door. Pietro sighed and read it over her shoulder.  
  
Warning: Female primates in heat. Males may be aggressive and territorial.  
  
Of course, he had been done reading before Crystal, even though she started before him.  
  
"C'mon, c'mon, c'mon, let's go!" He said in slight annoyance, pulling her in after him. She gave him an irritated look and followed.  
  
"You're like an hyper-active, immature, eight-year old, ya know," she said, and then added, "The way you're acting."  
  
"Hush up," He hissed quietly, pointing to a rather large baboon. "See? They're aggressive and territorial, can't get them angr-HOLY CRAP!"  
  
Crystal shot him a glare, and so did a few others who were observing the baboons.  
  
"Could you have been any louder?" Crystal whispered, pulling him away slightly from the other people.  
  
"They're going at it in public, Crystal!" he said in an almost frantic whisper. Crystal rolled her eyes, but did not bother to comment.  
  
"Mommy, what's that monkey doing to the other monkey?" a little girl that looked about six asked her mother, while observing the baboons with wide eyes.  
  
The mother looked extremely uncomfortable, and she fidgeted slightly, her eyes darting around. "Well, they're, um..."  
  
"Why is he hurting that monkey?" the little girl asked, but the mother decided that they had enough of the monkeys and dragged her daughter along behind her to get out of there and get some ice cream.  
  
"Y'see?" Pietro asked, and he stepped closer to the cage, making a face.  
  
"Pietro, stop it. You're acting like a child again," Crystal scolded. Pietro turned around to face her, giving her a mock wounded expression.  
  
"I'm just having a little fun," he gave her a smirk, turning around to face the cage, only to jump back in terror. "AHHHHHHHHH!!!!"  
  
A large, very dangerous and mean looking baboon sat right in front of the fence, rattling it and barring its fangs.  
  
"Lessgetouttahere!" Pietro said very fast, scooping up Crystal in his arms and zooming out of the monkey area.  
  
They wound up in front of the big cats area. Looking through the bulletproof class that separated the people from the lions and tigers, they saw a man in a blue shirt, petting a full-grown male lion. It yawned and licked his face.  
  
"Bob here was here for five years. He's been raised from captivity, and is just the nicest thing once you get to know him." He scratched the beast behind the ears. Another man in a blue shirt brought in a tiger, and the tiger started to play around with a big rubber ball.  
  
"This here is Fifi, she's been here about seven years. Sweetest thing if you treat her right."  
  
Crystal looked in interest, but Pietro was already bored. He tapped his foot for a while, trying to wait as patiently as he could for Crystal's sake.  
  
"Want to go get something to eat?" he asked her finally, when he could take the boredom no longer.  
  
She looked at his face, and he must have looked quite bored, because she sighed and nodded, and together they walked towards a small restaurant where they can buy food. Pietro grabbed her hand gently, and he forced himself not to go into super speed and walk.  
  
After ordering their food at the local zoo restaurant, they found a patio table outside and began to eat. Taking a bite out of his pizza, Pietro almost spit it out, but forced himself to swallow.  
  
"It tastes like cardboard," he said in disgust, placing the pizza down and instead taking a drink of his coke.  
  
Crystal took a bite out of her hamburger, "My food tastes fine," she said, taking another bite.  
  
"Check for flies," Pietro warned her taking another sip of his pop.  
  
"What?" Crystal asked raising an eyebrow at him.  
  
"Check. For. Flies." He said slowly. Crystal cautiously pulled up the bun of the hamburger and peered, and then did the same for the other side. No flies. Feeling a little more reluctant, she started eating it again; taking sips of her iced tea in between bites.  
  
"You finished?" Pietro asked after awhile. Crystal nodded, gathering all of their garbage, putting it on the red plastic tray and walking towards the garbage can and dumping it out. She wiped her hands on her khaki caprice.  
  
"We saw everything, right?" she asked him when he sped on over to her. He nodded, raised a questioning eyebrow at her, and when she nodded, he scooped her up and ran to drop her off at her apartment. They found themselves on her balcony a minute later.  
  
"Well," Crystal said, hanging onto his shoulders for balance, "Had a great time. Uh, see you."  
  
"Yep, not everyday you see horny monkeys," Pietro said nonchalantly, dusting off imaginary dust off of his shoulder. Crystal rolled her eyes and smiled a little bit. She straightened her sky blue, cotton, v-neckline t- shirt to find something to do with her hands.  
  
"Bye," Pietro said quietly, leaning forward and giving her a small, but appreciated, tender kiss on the lips.  
  
He gave her the smallest, barest hint of a smile, and she watched, as she saw the blur that was Pietro Maximoff run down the wall and towards his home.  
  
"Wow," she whispered, feeling all tingly inside from the feel of his lips against hers.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Okay, okay, not my best, but it will have to do. Sorry for the shortness of the chapter too. Was having trouble writing this.  
  
Pyroluver- Thanks for the review!  
  
Insanebunneh- You are so cruel and mean. Friday, dear cousin...Friday.  
  
Childrenwithblades- That is the most SUCKIEST thing I have ever heard in my entire life! Dear God, now I pray that doesn't happen to me! And I'm not the most religious person in the world. Terribly sorry, ff.net should be punished... But anyhoo, thanks for your review!  
  
I Am The Anonymous Reviewer- How's this kiss for ya? Thanks for your review!  
  
SpoOkZ13412- Thanks for your review!  
  
La cour de belles fleurs- Thanks for your review!  
  
Zee4- Did you just.... whack me? Thanks for your review, and update "Untitled"!  
  
Pauline L.- Hoped you had fun on vacation, thanks for your review!  
  
Zephyr- Thanks!  
  
Wind Rider 2000- Umm, they won't necessarily do "it", at least not for a while. Thanks for your review!  
  
Crazyspaceystracey- Thanks!  
  
Like it? Hate it? Either way, review! 


	10. Fixing Up the Boarding House

Disclaimer- "Carl, your partner is-Lenny." "Aw nuts. I mean...aw nuts."  
  
Chapter Ten- Fixing Up the Boarding House  
  
It wasn't until Magneto himself saw the state of the Boarding House that he himself paid for all the repairs and new furnishings. He ordered the whole house's residents, plus his Acolyte Pyro (he probably wanted the Aussie out of the base for awhile) to clean up the mess, scrubbing from the floor to the ceiling, or ceiling to floor, whichever you prefer. Xavier even ordered some of his senior members of the X-team to help, much to their protest. Kitty did, however, manage to convince them that it would set a good example for the younger students and show them how to be responsible and generous. But everyone knew she just wanted the bunch of them to come so she wasn't alone with the maniacs. So together, the three teams started fixing the house.  
  
That was what Crystal had seen when she pulled up onto the rocky driveway. Pietro had invited her to come any time she wanted, but she was wondering if maybe she could have waited for a better time to visit. But she did not drive for a half hour for nothing. She got out of her car, slammed it shut while slinging her purse over her shoulder and walked determinedly to the front door. A young man walked from the side of the house, grumbling about something while something flashed behind his ruby shades. More hesitantly, Crystal knocked on the front door, which was opened immediately that it made her gasp and jump a foot in the air.  
  
"Hello, hello!" Pietro said cheerfully, pulling her over to him and dipping her down, giving her his arrogant smirk. She gave him a look, and he made a face, setting her right again.  
  
They were much more comfortable around each other now since they had been going out for almost a month. People wondered if they were ever uncomfortable with each other.  
  
"Fine," he huffed, brushing off his shoulders. He walked further into the house, and Crystal took that as an invitation to come in. She quietly shut the door closed behind her.  
  
"What are you doing around here?" She asked, walking a little faster so she would be next to him.  
  
"Cleaning up this dump. If you think it's a mess now, you should have seen it when we were teenagers. It wasn't until Wanda moved in that it got cleaner, if only a little bit." He told her, grabbing her hand and pulling her to the living room.  
  
They collapsed together on the couch and Pietro immediately put his arms around her and pulled her up against him, making a flirtatious growl. She laughed, pushing him away a bit, but he buried his face into her neck, and started kissing it.  
  
"Aren't there people here?" she whispered, but made no move to stop them. He grunted, raising his head to look at her and gave her an incredulous look.  
  
"You're not rejecting me are you?" he asked. Crystal rolled her eyes and patted the side of his face, rolled away from him and idly flipping through the magazine that had been lying nearby. He sighed and snatched the magazine from her hands, and started reading it himself. She gave him an irritated look, but then laid back at the edge of the couch and kicking off her shoes, she rested her feet on his lap.  
  
"Aren't you suppose to be cleaning?" she asked.  
  
He shrugged, already on the last page of the magazine.  
  
"Why don't you go and clean?" she asked sweetly, leaning forward and plucking the magazine away. His expression was impassive.  
  
"Should you be telling me what to do?" he asked, his voice emotionless also.  
  
"No kissing until you start cleaning," she said, promising to herself not to give in, no matter what he did.  
  
"Oh, that's alright," he said lightly, tugging off one of her socks lazily. He gripped her ankle firmly, and then started stroking his fingertips lightly at the sole of her foot, making her jerk back her leg as he did so, but he held on tightly. He started tickling it again, much to her dismay.  
  
"Ah, what are you doing?" she cried, trying to tug her foot away from him.  
  
"Me?" he said innocently, "I'm not doing anything." He deliberately ran his fingertips even slower down the sole, making the torture even longer. She tried jerking away from him, trying to muffle her laughter in the couch as she did so.  
  
"My, you're awful jumpy today. Whassamatter?" he asked in concern, still mercilessly tickling her feet.  
  
She was about to answer when she smelled something. "Is something burning?" she asked, sniffing the air, trying to calm down.  
  
Pietro stopped immediately, his eyes narrowed towards the kitchen. With an irate growl, he roughly pushed Crystal's feet off him and stormed into the kitchen, at super speed.  
  
"Pyro! God dammit what the HELL is the matter with you!" Pietro bellowed, rushing back into the living room to grab the fire extinguisher on the wall next to the doorway and rushed back into the kitchen, where a blonde man came out of it, cackling and crying at the same time.  
  
"But jus' lookit the fire!" he said excitedly, letting out another laugh that would have people questioning his sanity without even knowing him. "You should've seen it, mate, it was gorgeous!"  
  
Pietro came out of the kitchen, clutching the extinguisher and breathing rather heavily, fury written all over his face. "Dammit, John, I may have let it slipped the first dozen times, and it was Lance who usually got pissed, but this is ridiculous! Sonovabitch, there's PAINT in here! There's varnish in here! Do you know how God damn flammable that is? Huh? You could have set the whole fuckin' house on fire and kill everyone inside, you idiot! What the hell is wrong with you?"  
  
"I could have put it out," John said quietly, his eyes narrowed to slits. All signs of laughter left his face. Crystal watched frightfully from her spot on the couch.  
  
"Just get out," Pietro breathed, pointing towards the open front door, "Work on something outside."  
  
Turning on his heel sharply towards the direction of the door, Pyro marched off indignantly.  
  
Pietro, remembering something, zipped right up to him, took the lighter from this pocket, and pocketed it in his own.  
  
"I'm confiscating this. For now."  
  
Pyro's teeth were bared. No one had ever seen him this angry, and it was a little scary. He left.  
  
Pietro went back to the couch and collapsed next to Crystal.  
  
"He's always like that, always thinks fire is the most important thing in the world. Damn pyromaniac nearly set the house and the base on fire twelve times." He sighed.  
  
Crystal's eyebrows knitted in concern. "He's a pyromaniac? Pietro, I'd be worried about him! People with that much severe of pyromania are truly not right in the head. Something's wrong with them, and they should be looked at!"  
  
Pietro shrugged.  
  
"Pietro, where does this go?" Fred asked from behind a La-Z-Boy chair. Perched in it, sitting cross-legged was Toad. He looked almost bored.  
  
"Yeah, where does this go?" he repeated Fred's question.  
  
Pietro pointed to a random spot on the floor.  
  
After Fred set the recliner down, he dusted his hands off and went back outside helping carry the heavier things. Todd stayed in his spot.  
  
"Who's the babe?" he asked, eyeing Crystal. Her lip curled at him in disgust.  
  
"Todd, I've actually been serious with this one. Don't go annoying or insulting her," Pietro snapped, wrapping his arm tightly around Crystal's shoulders.  
  
Todd shrugged, "Okay, okay geez. Now, where's my cuddlebumps?" And he hopped off.  
  
"Cuddlebumps?" Crystal raised an eyebrow questionably.  
  
"My sister," Pietro answered, "She hates him."  
  
"TOAD!"  
  
Toad hopped frantically out of the house whimpering. "I said I was sorry Poopsie!"  
  
Wanda stormed in, her hands surrounded by the blue hex. "Where's the insect?" Her brother pointed towards the wide open door.  
  
Wanda controlled her heavy breathing, and then looked back at him furiously. "Why the hell are you just sitting there? This isn't make-out time, this is FIX THE FRICKEN HOUSE TIME!"  
  
He cowered a little into the couch, and then saw that she turned abruptly, yanked the closet door open and pulled a disheveled Kitty and Lance out.  
  
"And that goes for you too!"  
  
Okay, here it is! Sorry it's short, but it will have to do. I'm trying to post the next chapters for my other two stories as fast as I can, but I had to post this one first. Sorry, no shout-outs this time. But thanks for all who reviewed, you guys rock my socks!  
  
And as you see, Quicksilver is quickly falling in love. Yay!  
  
Won't post next chapter until I get...Oh, let's say 80 reviews. Not that many.  
  
Like it? Hate it? Either way, review! 


	11. Picnic

Disclaimer- "Are you talkin' to me? Are you talkin' to me? Well, there's no one else here..."  
  
Chapter Eleven- Picnic  
  
"You've been avoiding the house," Pietro stated, lying down on his back in the grass, rolling a dandelion by the stem between his index finger and his thumb. "My friends scare you off?"  
  
"No," Crystal said as she unfolded the thick, cotton blanket and spread it out. She picked up the basket that had been next to Pietro and set it on there also. Pietro rolled onto the blanket, stopping when he faced her. He propped his head up on his hand, supported by his left elbow, the dandelion still in his right hand.  
  
"I'd understand if you were a bit uncomfortable. Pyro's a handful," he flicked the dandelion off to the side.  
  
"No, I've just been busy with college," Crystal said, starting to set out the food they had packed in front of him.  
  
"Oh," he sounded like he didn't entirely believe her, but he let the subject drop.  
  
She idly watched as a little boy kicked a red ball to his friend, her feet tucked under her. She felt a small tug at her shirt, and noticed that Pietro had grabbed a fistful of the material just below her left shoulder, and he pulled down at it again, bringing her down to just a centimeter away from his lips. She felt his warm breath tickle against her lips, and she watched as he licked his slightly, then bringing his hand up to the back of her head, he pulled her down the rest of the way. She seemed to melt when his soft lips touched hers, and her mouth parted slightly and his tongue slipped in. Just as quickly as it started however, it ended. She almost groaned in disappointment.  
  
"Let's eat," he said softly, looking away from her and starting to unwrap the sandwich next to him. Reluctantly, Crystal did the same.  
  
"Since I met your friends, I think you should meet some of mine," Crystal told him. He didn't say anything for a while, now unscrewing the cap to the bottle of Mountain Dew, and his brow was furrowed slightly.  
  
'Doesn't he ever actually smile more than once a day?' she thought.  
  
"Sure," he said so lowly she wasn't sure if she imagined it or not.  
  
Before she had even eaten half of her sandwich, she noticed that he was already finished and was starting on his second. He drank the Mountain Dew thirstily, a single drop of the soda running down his chin and then down his throat. Crystal watched it with fascination. Finally, after finishing her sandwich, they packed their things up, and set the basket to the side, laying next to each other on the soft blanket, soaking up the sun.  
  
Then he rolled over to his side again, resting on his elbow, and he just stared at her with intent blue eyes. She met his gaze and smiled softly. The right corner of his lip quirked up slightly and he leaned down to kiss her again. She cupped his cheek, but then she moved it to the back of his head, clutching a small amount of his soft, white hair. He moaned slightly, slipping his tongue in once again, and her lips parted more, and he deepened the kiss.  
  
They heard a distant 'Ewww' and parted, looking up to see who had interrupted them. The two boys who were playing ball were now staring at them, making retching noises and clutching their throats. Pietro stuck his tongue out at them and Crystal gave him a playful smack on the arm. He turned back to her with a small smile, eyes sparked with mischievousness and he went down once again and caught her unawares.  
  
A distant, "Get a room!" but he ignored the two boys who couldn't have been more than eight years old.  
  
He pulled back again, taking his index finger and stroking down the side of her face, tucking a lock of silky blonde hair behind her ear as he did so. Crystal's heart started thumping madly, and she could feel herself blush under his touch. How embarrassing!  
  
"You're different," he whispered, staring at his finger as it moved underneath her chin, "You aren't like the other women. Something...about you."  
  
He lifted her chin up slightly and kissed her softly again. He licked his lips again and stared in her eyes, sapphires meeting emeralds.  
  
"And you're different from all the other guys," she whispered back to him, reaching up to tuck the flyaway lock of hair back, caressing the side of his face with the back of her hand. "Let's head back to my apartment, to escape from prying eyes." Her eyes glanced at the direction the two boys had been, and Pietro smirked agreeing, and packed and folded everything in a matter of seconds. He had to slow down his powers so he wouldn't attract a mutant-hating mob after them.  
  
"Let's stop at the store on the way back! My supply of Pixie Sticks is low," he told her, and then hoisted her onto his back, much to her surprise.  
  
"Since when did I want a piggy-back ride?" she asked him, wrapping her arms around his neck.  
  
"Since you don't have any choice," he replied, wrapping his arms around her knees. "Wrap you're legs around me too, it'll be easier."  
  
Crystal obeyed. "You just want an excuse to touch my legs."  
  
"Maybe," he said, walking off to the direction her apartment was three blocks away.  
  
"What are we going to do with the basket," she asked, eyeing the picnic basket on the ground, the blanket presumably rolled up and tucked away inside of it. He stopped, walked back and bent down and kneeled in front of it.  
  
"Grab it," he told her, and she did and he lifted himself back into a standing position with ease.  
  
"Am I too heavy?" she asked concern, shifting her wait slightly. He shook his head, walking again in the direction of her apartment, where they would pass the White Hen and there they could buy his Pixie Sticks.  
  
"Like, I'm not hurting your back or anything? Or your legs? They're not tired?"  
  
He shook his head again, "Enhanced leg muscles. Todd and I have the strongest legs out of the group of us, including the X-Men. Useful for soccer."  
  
She cocked her head in interest, "Do you play soccer?"  
  
"When I was in junior high. Basically the only main sport I didn't play was football. Sport for dumbass jocks." He shifted her wait a little.  
  
"You like sports?" she asked, resting her chin on his shoulder. He nodded. "What kind did you play?"  
  
"Basketball and track mostly," he lowered his voice slightly, "Didn't even need to use my powers. Still left them in the dust."  
  
She laughed lightly. "Any others?"  
  
"A little hockey in junior high too. Fastest on the team. But it was just basically basketball throughout the years. I was unsurprisingly one of the best," he sounded arrogant and proud right then.  
  
Crystal laughed, "A little full of yourself, aren't you?"  
  
"Course not."  
  
They arrived at the White Hen around ten minutes later, and Pietro let Crystal slide off his back. Immediately entering the small store, Pietro began his hunt for the candy section and found it almost right away. Grabbing all the bags of the Pixie Sticks that they had (there was only four in stock that day) he made his way to the front counter. He began drumming his fingers at the counter as Crystal waited for him at the side, examining the covers of the magazines. Finally, the man behind the counter turned around. He was loaded with tattoos and piercings, his hair looked greasy and slightly tinged green, and he was chomping on gum like a cow would chew grass.  
  
"That it?" he said in a bored tone. Pietro nodded with his eyes narrowed.  
  
"Eight fifty," he drawled. Pietro saw that his name was Carl from the nametag. He paid. He turned and saw that Crystal was flipping through a magazine. She walked past him and to the counter, setting it down in front of her.  
  
"Want anything else, babe?" Carl asked with a crooked smile, still chomping on that gum. Pietro took a step closer to her, his eyes narrowed to slits.  
  
"No," Crystal told him, digging in her purse for money.  
  
"Three fifty."  
  
"Here," Crystal paid, putting her purse into the basket that she had set up on the counter.  
  
"Going on a picnic?" Carl asked, leaning on the counter.  
  
"I already went," she replied politely, grabbing the basket off of the counter.  
  
"Alone?" Carl emphasized.  
  
"No, not that it's any of your business," she said pleasantly enough. She turned and grabbed Pietro's candy, put it in the basket, and then wrapped her free hand in one of his. Together they exited, and Pietro made an effort to wrap his arm around her waist in plain view of the doors.  
  
"Jerk," Pietro muttered as they crossed the busy street and to the apartment buildings. Crystal smiled. "A little jealous, are we?"  
  
"Course not."  
  
They climbed up the stone steps and entered the building, Crystal digging out her key and unlocking the door in front of her.  
  
"Lorna might be there," she told him, "She has an extra key. Usually when her mom and step-dad fight she comes over until it cools down. They fight a lot, so don't be surprised."  
  
Pietro nodded solemnly, his arms still wrapped around her waist as they climbed up to the top floor. "If there is, uh, could you not tell anybody I'm a mutant?"  
  
She nodded, and they stopped at a door with a nice welcome mat with kittens chasing butterflies on it, and she unlocked it and they both stepped inside.  
  
Crystal was right. There was somebody there. Sitting at the table, was a pale blonde woman with milky white skin and a cigarette in her hand. She idly flipped through a magazine.  
  
"Hello Crys," the woman said.  
  
Crystal sighed and tossed her keys and purse on the table. "Fighting again?"  
  
"Of course. I hope they divorce." She took a drag of her cigarette.  
  
"Lorna, this is my-uh boyfriend, Pietro," Lorna looked up immediately, her eyebrow raised at Pietro.  
  
"So this is where've you been all this time? Out on romantic dates I expect?" Lorna smiled at Pietro, who nodded slightly back.  
  
"Yup," Crystal set the basket on the table, opened it and pulled out Pietro's candy, handing it to him.  
  
"You're a looker," Lorna told him as he sat at the table. "Wanna smoke?"  
  
He looked up at her, eyeing the cigarette in her hand. He smirked, gently plucked it from her fingers and took a long drag, "S'bad for your heart and lungs. Unhealthy heart and lungs is bad for your running."  
  
She raised an eyebrow. "And do you run often?"  
  
"Quite," he took another drag, then turned it around and handed it back to her. "I don't smoke often, but a few of my friends do. Impairs your performance in sports."  
  
She twisted the butt in the ashtray besides her. "So, you're an athlete."  
  
"You could say that."  
  
Crystal, after relieving herself in the bathroom, walked in and sat in the chair next to Pietro. Under the table, she folded her right hand around left. His right arm rested on the table.  
  
"What kinda sports you play?" Lorna asked, leaning forward.  
  
"Basketball and track mostly," he answered, stroking his thumb across Crystal's knuckles.  
  
"So there're others?"  
  
"Played hockey and soccer in junior high, but I sort of stopped. Running and basketball."  
  
Lorna smiled. "Me and the girls work out at the gym. Maybe you should...join?"  
  
Crystal threw Lorna an alarmed look but then glanced back at Pietro to see what his answer would be. He stared coolly back at Lorna and then smirked in his arrogant way, "Is this just an all female gym or are there guys too?"  
  
"Oh, it's coed," Lorna grinned, twirling a lock of pale blonde hair in her fingers.  
  
"Alright, I'll join you. If it's all right with Crystal," he glanced at her with a questioning raised eyebrow.  
  
Crystal immediately blushed. Seeing him work out? This was all so unexpected! "Of c-course I don't mind!"  
  
The corner of his lip curled up in slight amusement. He was enjoying seeing her uncomfortable! "Good."  
  
Lorna grinned almost wickedly. "Alright. Next week, Friday. Bayville Gym. Three o'clock."  
  
Pietro released Crystal's hand. "Alright," he turned to Crystal, "I have to go. I'm still needed to help around the house." He rose, and Crystal followed him. Opening the door, he turned to her and leaned in close, first glancing at Lorna but she was flipping through the magazine and politely kept her gaze averted from them. He then looked back into her eyes and firmly planted his mouth onto hers, causing Crystal's knees to buckle. Lorna looked up in interest, since she was the nosiest out of their friends.  
  
He deepened the kiss, wrapping his arms around her waist; and she was glad too, because she had been sure she would collapse. Slowly pulling back, he gave her a crooked smile and walked backwards out the door. Crystal closed it quietly.  
  
"You're quite infatuated with him," Lorna said with amusement. Crystal turned to glare at her.  
  
"What was that all about?" she seethed. "Why did you invite him to work out with us?"  
  
"Because," she said, lighting another cigarette. Crystal growled slightly and glanced at the table. The Pixie Sticks were still there.  
  
"Ohh," Crystal moaned, picking up the bags of candy. "He's not going to be happy."  
  
"Why?" Lorna asked a little curiously.  
  
Crystal sighed. "He's obsessed with these. He said it's what keeps him going."  
  
Lorna raised an eyebrow. "He's weird. Hot, but weird."  
  
"_Psst_, Crystal!" someone hissed from the direction of the balcony, and both women snapped their heads towards it. Pietro was standing there, half outside and half inside, his hand resting on the edge of the sliding glass door. Reaching his hand further inside of the apartment he nodded towards the bags of colorful sugar that Crystal was holding. Crystal rushed over there and shoved them in his hands. Leaning forward and giving her a peck on the cheek faster than the eye could see, he then vanished.  
  
"How'd he get on the balcony?" Lorna asked incredulously, her eyes widened slightly. Crystal shrugged. "I don't know, climbed?"  
  
Lorna furrowed her brow and slowly sat back down at her spot at the table, putting out the cigarette with a thoughtful expression.

* * *

Wow! This chapter would have been posted a bijillion years ago, but I have neglected to finish it, or start writing other chapters for other stories. I've been busy, because I am OUT OF SCHOOL, BABY! That and my social life seems to be coming back. It's all good.  
  
As you can see, they're a LITTLE bit closer in this chapter. Pietro is already in love with her. She's falling in love. And next chapter...Hot and sweaty Pietro! YES! Or maybe not... He doesn't really get tired easily, does he? And no, it's not sex.  
  
Zee4- Why doesn't Crystal ever use her powers? I... don't know. I'll have to work that in here. Umm... Pietro getting Crystal pregnant? Lets just say that I know the EXACT last words that this story's going to end in. My cousin is the only other being that knows what they are, but she tortured the information out of me. But there's a sequel! Think of all the possibilities! They screwed my formatting up! I had those stars and swirly things to separate the sections but nooo the thing didn't recognize those characters!  
  
Insanebunneh- Why would you be disappointed? At least the chapter's there. Next update will be Up In Flames, I promise. Actually I might break that, but I have a little of it written! I'm getting there!  
  
Sona Camdyn- A lurker we have, yes? Glad you decided to drop in and leave a review! Glad you like it.  
  
Childrenwithblades- Yes, poor John. Pietro does love him deep down. He just got annoyed!  
  
SperryDee- I wish I were Crystal too. Isn't she one lucky bitch?  
  
The Uncanny R-Man- You don't LIKE Pietro centered fics? He's my hero! Glad you liked this one though. Yes, the way I see it, Pietro does have a nice side than his usually written 'this guy is on the eviler side and seems to brag, therefore he is an arrogant jerk'. Pietro could be sweet if he wanted to! Dammit he's not an asshole! Well, he is a little bit but THAT DOESN'T MATTER! Duncan bashing! Oh you just reminded me! I have to fit that in this story too! There might be Crystal/Wanda bonding. But WOW! Thanks for reviewing every single chapter! That's great! You get one HUGE cookie!  
  
Thanks for all who reviewed!  
  
Like it? Hate it? Either way, review! 


	12. The Gym

Disclaimer- "Flappy, good news. I've decided not to kill you."  
  
Chapter Twelve- The Gym  
  
As Pietro promised he would, he arrived at Crystal's apartment Friday afternoon. He was dressed in a shirt that had previously been a t-shirt, but it's sleeves had been cut off. His shorts were easy to work out in, but they weren't biker-shorts made from spandex (much to Lorna's disappointment).  
  
Crystal smiled as she opened the door to let him in. He gave her a tiny lopsided grin, and ran a hand through his hair absentmindedly (although it must have been a habit, since it was still done in his usual arrogant fashion).  
  
He leaned against the doorframe, his arms crossed over his chest, and most of his weight was supported on his left leg he studied her up and down critically. Then with a satisfied smirk he said, "You look hot."  
  
Pink blotches formed themselves on Crystal's cheeks and she did her best to scowl at him in return.  
  
"Well, well, well," drawled a satisfied someone from behind Crystal. Pietro and Crystal both looked at Lorna, who had a sweatband around one of her wrist and head, her platinum blonde hair tied back into a ponytail. Her shorts were made of blue spandex, and she was also wearing a loose white tank top. Her arms were crossed against her breasts and she gave Pietro a saucy grin. "Look at this sexy hunk of man. Who wouldn't want a piece of you?"  
  
Pietro's dark eyebrow stretched its way up to the middle of his forehead; his usual arrogant smirk reappeared in its usual spot back on his facial features. "Why thank you. I thought almost the exact same myself as I stared at myself admiringly in the mirror this morning," he said conceitedly. "Except I thought, who wouldn't want to do this sexy hunk of man?"  
  
Lorna's eyebrows rose and Crystal let out an exasperated sigh. "Oh really? Do what? Your hair?"  
  
Pietro reached out without looking and wrapped an arm around Crystal's waist, pulling her closer to him so her back was leaning against his frame. "Why yes," he said matter-of-factly and he stared at her in mock amazement. "How in the world did you know?"  
  
She shrugged one of her shoulders. "Guessed."  
  
"Can we get a move on?" Crystal said loudly, speaking for the first time. She untangled herself from Pietro's arms, "Damita and Val are waiting."  
  
Lorna nodded and walked over to the couch and hoisted up a small duffel bag over her shoulder. Then the three of them left.  
  
Lorna drove, her elbow hanging outside of the window, a cigarette resting lazily between her index and middle fingers. Pietro sat in the passenger's seat, since his legs were longer and would be cramped in the backseat. Crystal sat in the middle of the backseat.  
  
Pietro huffed. He was already growing impatient and they had only been on the road for five minutes. "Are we there yet?"  
  
"No," Lorna snapped giving him a glare filled with annoyance. He sighed loudly and leaned his chair back in a laying position. Thirty seconds later he put it upright again, groaning loudly.  
  
"What is the matter with you?" Lorna snarled, swerving sharply around the driver in front of her. "There's only ten minutes left."  
  
Pietro let out another audible groan and stomped his foot. He rolled down his window, a look of annoyance appeared on his face when he saw that it didn't go down fast enough. Lorna shot him a scathing glare while Crystal sighed and leaned back, crossing her arms, and was looking at Pietro with an equal amount of irritation.  
  
They rode the rest of the way in silence, every once in a while one of Pietro's legs gave a sudden twitch. Then he started fidgeting madly, as if something irritating were crawling around in his pants.  
  
They pulled in the parking lot of the work out center and Pietro opened the door before Lorna had even stopped the car all the way. He made a mad dash out of the car and ran around in circles in front of the gym.  
  
"Ahh!" he spread out his arms wide like wings, palms facing skywards, and he sighed blissfully to the blue heavens. "Freedom from the automobile of doom!"  
  
Both women rolled their eyes, walking past him towards the center. After realizing they left him alone spinning around in circles like a fool, he followed them inside.  
  
He found them inside with two other women; one was tall and dark with wild, curly hair and the other was short and some sort of Asian decent, he couldn't tell what though.  
  
"Hello ladies," he said with an air of confidence that only told them he had done the exact same thing before thousands of times. He put an arm over Crystal's shoulders.  
  
"And is this the man that had suddenly taken up all of your time, Crys," the dark one said, "or is this just a complete stranger that walks up to random people and puts their arms around them?"  
  
He smirked. "Random women, not random people. Why would I go around hugging men?"  
  
She rolled one of her shoulders. "I dunno, you seem sort of effeminate to me. Nancy-boy like."  
  
Pietro's mood changed swiftly like a chameleon changes colors. His arm dropped from Crystal's shoulders, and he stiffened, his face burning, his eyes icy, and his jaw clenched.  
  
"Excuse me," he forced himself to say, each word filled with venom. "I seem to have not heard you right."  
  
She opened her mouth to speak but Crystal cut her off with a glare, but her face was filled with incredulity. "Girls this is Pietro," she spoke, her words seeming slow and deliberate, "Pietro this is Damita and Valerie, but we just call her Val."  
  
Pietro nodded jerkily to them, then walked off, his fists clenched, to inspect the nearest treadmill.  
  
Crystal caught Damita by the arm. "What are you playing at?" she hissed.  
  
"I don't like the looks of him," Damita said, "Just something about him. Makes me uneasy."  
  
"Yeah, and that's a reason to go off insulting him," replied Crystal sarcastically. She shook her disbelievingly and went off towards the weights. Damita made her way to the treadmills.  
  
"I'm the best runner here," she said to Pietro as she took the one he was next to. "Have the record time for the fastest level on these things. About an hour and a half."  
  
Pietro glanced at her contemptuously. He looked around the gym silently. There weren't many people there, just a few others. Val was off doing palates, Lorna was doing crunches and Crystal was lifting hand weights.  
  
"Yeah," he said tersely, stepping onto the treadmill. He set his feet to the sides and stuck in the key. He set it on the highest and fastest level right away.  
  
"You shouldn't start off that fast," Damita told him, setting hers at a nice and slow jogging level. "And you should connect the clip at the end of the key to you, so it turns off it you go too far or fall off. People usually start to slack off right away on that level. They get tired."  
  
He didn't listen, but stepped onto the moving rubber, easily keeping up with the machine. Damita raised the level faster.  
  
"You know why I called you that?" Damita panted a half an hour later, "It's because I saw you twirling around in circles outside like a frolicking schoolgirl."  
  
"Yeah," he snorted. He ran a hand through his hair again. Beside him, above the humming of the treadmills, he heard Damita start to pant heavily. He smirked, knowing that she was showing signs of tiredness when he was not. He was breathing as normally and calmly as he would if he was walking. He looked at her, "You sure you hold the record? Seems like you tired pretty quickly if you ran that long at that level."  
  
She glared at him. "I haven't been on these as much as I used to. I've been working out at other parts of the gym."  
  
He snorted again. "Yeah, right." He lowered the level slightly, knowing that if he stopped it immediately he'd just about have a heart attack. He kept on lowering it slowly until it was just walking.  
  
"Tired?" Damita asked smugly, as she too lowered the level. Pietro raised an eyebrow at her.  
  
"Do I look tired?"  
  
She didn't answer but turned off the machine and walked towards the weights, which Crystal had just abandoned.  
  
He walked calmly towards the weight bench, adding more weights to the bar. Then, he started bench-pressing.  
  
Lorna ambled over to him. "Why aren't you sweating?" she asked incredulously, "You've been on the highest level on that thing and you ain't got a drop of perspiration on you. That's not normal."  
  
"And why were you staring at my irresistibly sexy body?" he said. "Why are you over here?"  
  
"I'm going to spot you, so if your hands slip or something the thing won't go crashing down on your neck." She said. "Besides, I need to rest. I'm pooped."  
  
"Uh huh," he grunted.  
  
Crystal sauntered over. "Hullo," she said cheerfully to him, wiping sweat off of her brow with her forearm. Pietro put the weights back in their place and sat up. He growled at her like a feline.  
  
"Excuse me?" she said in amusement, quirking up a brow.  
  
"I said get over here, pretty lady," he growled and she took a few furtive steps closer, but just out of his reach. But quick as a flash, he reached forward more and grabbed her around the waist, pulling her down into his lap. Then, he plunged his mouth hungrily on her neck, almost devouring it like candy. Crystal gasped.  
  
"Excuse me?" she said, pushing back on his chest and giving him a glare. "Did I say you could go sucking on my neck?"  
  
He made his blue eyes very wide and innocent looking, staring at her hopefully. Then with a tiny nod, he smiled a bit.  
  
"Yes!" he said heartily, and then attacking again, but this time it was her mouth. The second time around, she didn't resist, but answered back eagerly.  
  
"Guys, guys!" Lorna scolded from behind. "A gym filled with smelly people is no place to go sucking off each others' faces. Save it for later."  
  
"I'm not sucking her face off!" Pietro snapped at her. Lorna rolled her eyes, stood, and patted Crystal's shoulder sympathetically. "Good luck with this one," she muttered out of the corner of her mouth.  
  
"Hey!" Pietro called angrily. He shot Crystal an indignant look and stood up swiftly, walking (although it was getting harder and harder for him to do so) back towards the treadmills, and started running back at the quickest pace the machine could possibly go.  
  
He didn't know why he went on the treadmills. Whenever he saw one of the machines, he just had to run on it. Not because he could easily keep up with it (although, now that he thought about it, it might've helped) but because he was afraid. Ever since he had been eight, since he had lived with his father, he had been forced to run for endless hours on them. Now, it was probably more of a habit than anything else, but also that small fraction of nagging fear and paranoia that his father might be standing in the shadows, watching.  
  
He shook his head to clear his paranoid thoughts. He knew his father wouldn't do any of those sorts of things to his children now. He had changed. Although he still wasn't as loving as he could be, he had tried. He had lent the money to the Brotherhood to fix up the house and get new furniture. It had been the least he could do.  
  
"Maximoff!" Shaken out of his traveling thoughts, Pietro froze immediately. And just as quickly, he flew off the machine and landed on his buttocks.  
  
"Watch it Maximoff, coulda hurt someone there!" a cruel and amused voice said behind him. Pietro whipped around. "Namely me." Duncan Matthews said with a smirk. Pietro rose quickly to his feet and stood eye to eye with the former high school football star.  
  
"So, this is what you've been doing when you got expelled?" the blonde said loudly. "Or have you just been sitting around all the time at that shithole you call a boarding house, hanging with Dumbass, Smelly, and Fatso? Did the house finally wreak so much of freak that you just had to get out?"  
  
The next moment Duncan found himself sprawled on the floor, eight feet away from where he had been standing. He looked dazed and confused for a moment, and then he shook his head but immediately let out a yelp of pain as his hands flew up to grip his jaw.  
  
Having the gift of super speed will also give you the gift of limited super strength. Pietro's left fist was still clenched, but it stung and throbbed like nobody's business. The important thing was that he had hurt Duncan more than he had hurt himself, that Duncan was the one lying on the floor and not him, and that it was Duncan that had been hit in the face and not Pietro. Duncan was lucky that Pietro had not kicked him; otherwise he would have been dead.  
  
"What happened?!" Crystal gasped as she hurried over towards the scene, her friends behind her. She took one look at Duncan as he struggled to a standing position still clutching his jaw. She gave Pietro a worried look.  
  
Duncan stood up straight now, rubbing his jaw. Three of his friends had joined him. One was man of Mexican descent, with a black goatee covering his chin. The other was made of muscle, with hair closely shaved to the scalp. The other was one of his high school goons, the one with the blonde pudding bowl haircut.  
  
"Crystal, baby," Duncan said, trying to smile in his most charming way but it ended up turning into a grimace. "Miss me?"  
  
"Not remotely," Crystal growled, her eyes narrowing. She took a few steps closer to Pietro. Duncan's expression was filled with incredulity.  
  
"You left me for him?!" He exclaimed, waving his arm towards the mutant.  
  
Crystal jabbed a finger at his chest. "Wrong, Duncan. You left me. You left me sitting alone at a table at a fricken restaurant. You took me out on Valentine's Day just to dump me! I'd rather go out with the dirt on my shoe than go out with you."  
  
Duncan started to smile slowly. "Ah, now I see why you're with scum like this." His eyes flickered to Pietro, whose whole body stiffened instantaneously.  
  
"I didn't say that, Duncan." Crystal said calmly.  
  
Duncan still looked smug. He shrugged. "Whatever you say, Crys," he drawled. He turned around and started to walk away towards the locker rooms. He looked and called over his shoulder. "Hey, Maximoff, whenever your sister feels the need to have a nice screw, have her call me."  
  
That had done it. Something exploded inside of Pietro and before anyone knew it, he was on top of Duncan on the floor, his hands wrapped around his neck. Duncan's three cronies immediately took action and jumped on top of Pietro, knocking all the air from his lungs and pinning him between them and Duncan.  
  
"Idiots!" Duncan gasped, "You're crushing me!"  
  
They scrambled off of the two and Pietro immediately went back to his task of choking Duncan. Then, two pairs of strong arms wrapped themselves under his upper arms and yanked him off. They stumbled back into one of the exercise bikes and it fell over, with their weight on top of it. Pietro yelped as he felt one of the petals jam into his back.  
  
Other people in the gym were panicking, watching, or laughing at the whole scene. "Somebody call the cops!" one of them gasped and the lady in the desk in front who was looking through the open doorway immediately scrambled to dial the number on the phone on her desk.  
  
Pietro felt himself yanked up again, and then felt his head painfully whipped to the side, his cheek burning with agony. He kicked at one of the men holding him in the shins, and the Mexican holding his left side fell down hard on his back, clutching his broken leg. He then punched the blonde one holding his other side right in the nose, where blood immediately spurted out. He let go and covered his nose with his hands, cursing as blood poured from between his fingers. Pietro dove forward again, knocking Duncan off of his feet again. The two of them rolled on the floor, hitting wherever they could.  
  
Faintly, Pietro heard sirens, and he paused, looking to his left out the giant window. Squat cars were pulling in, and police officers were running out and into the building. Pietro looked back at his enemy and hit him in the side of the face one final time before scrambling to his feet in a second.  
  
He wiped the blood dripping from his nose with the back of his hand, wincing as his hand made contact with the broken cartilage.  
  
"If you ever come near my sister," he threatened quietly, but the area was so absent of noise that everybody heard what he was saying. "I swear over my mother's frozen grave that after she kicks your ass, you'll be answering to me."  
  
He licked the area around his lips, including the blood that was oozing from his split lip and he spat it out on Matthews' chest.  
  
He looked over at Crystal apologetically, whose expression was mingled with fear, anger, and worry. "Sorry," he whispered to her and then looked around at the room of staring bystanders. "I gottagetouttahere," he gave one last filthy look at Duncan and his friends before disappearing in a blur.  
  
. . . . . . . . .  
  
Okay, not as sweet as the others, but fighting's a nice break from that. Besides, way back when I said I'd do some Duncan bashing, so I just fit it in this chapter. Yay!  
  
Some people will think that in no way would Pietro beat up four guys. Well, he's improved since the series. Everybody has. They've been training better and well, Pietro's just so darn fast. And sexy. Sexy could be the ultimate weapon.  
  
Zee4- Pietro's not afraid of going to the gym! Hmm, redo Untitled? Well, I'm fine with how it's going right now, except for that lack of updates. But then again, if you think you can improve it a lot I wouldn't mind either. If you're gonna make Luna older, don't make her too much older. But then, I also love little Luna. Aw man. I'm not that big of help, am I? Well, whatever you do with it I'll read it. Plot? What plot? I haven't had Cornflakes in years! Dammit now I want some! Thanks for reviewing!  
  
SPoOkZ13412- Glad to have you back!  
  
Childrenwithblades- Dammit, you BETTER remake Maximoffs: Reversed! I loved that story when it was up and it was only two chapters! So I encourage you to write it again. Or threaten you, whichever works better. Thanks for your review!  
  
SperryDee- Yes, Pixie Sticks do rule. I didn't really describe Pietro working out, because this is a PG13 rated story. Just use your imagination. I could go into a long list of details on how and why Pietro is so damn sexy and appealing to the entire well, Pietro fan-based population. Thanks for reviewing!  
  
The Uncanny R-Man- Yes! Fluff cures everything! I can't see why anybody would hate Pietro. Or even semi-hate him for that matter. Thanks for your review!  
  
Insanebunneh- Torture just sounds so much better though than just telling you how it ends without and threatening. Yay! Six Flags!  
  
Kyuushi- Thanks for all that advice and stuff. It's probably going to help me a lot. See, I planned this story to be twenty chapters, but now I look at it I see that's only six chapters and there is no way I could fit all I want to do in here. I want to keep it twenty-five at the most. I agree with you, there should absolutely be more PietroCrystal fics out there. But I'm actually seeing her being mentioned more and more out there. With Wanderlust, From the Shadows, and Lest Not We Forget. Thanks for your review! I love Future Happenings, by the way! When do you think that's going to be updated?  
  
Like it? Hate it? Either way, review! 


	13. Engagement

Disclaimer- If I'd own X-Men: Evolution, I'd have Pietro running around naked. Unfortunately, I don't, so there won't be any of that.

Chapter Thirteen- Engagement

"I can not believe him!" Crystal seethed in the passenger's seat. "I can _not _believe him!"

Lorna looked at her friend warily out of the corner of her eye. There was a slight frown on her face.

"How could he lose his temper like that?" Crystal asked, her face reddening. "How on earth could he do something as _stupid _as to start a fight like that? _How the hell could he_?"

"Crys," Lorna said soothingly as they pulled into the apartment building's parking lot. "Crys, I think you're over reacting just a tad."

Crystal balled her hands up in fists and hit the armrest frustratingly. "How could you say that?! After what he did? It was uncalled for! He just proved that Duncan was the better man! Ooh, I feel so-"

"Mad? Angry?" Lorna offered.

"I'm _furious_," Crystal hissed.

"Well, if you put it literally, they all mean the same thing," Lorna said, raising an eyebrow.

"Shut up," Crystal snapped, opening the door and slamming it shut.

"Hey, careful, careful!" Lorna said angrily as she followed her friend out of the car. "I paid money for this thing!"

They entered the building and began climbing up the stairs, Lorna quickening her pace to keep up with Crystal.

"Well, if you think about it," Lorna said, stopping the door when her friend pushed it hard enough where it could have bounced off its hinges. "He wasn't exactly out of line. Did you hear what that jackass said to him?"

"Still isn't an excuse!" Crystal snapped, pulling her shirt over her head as she marched to her room. Seconds later she emerged with a loose gray t-shirt and comfortable jeans.

"Yeah it is!" Lorna argued. "If anyone talked like that about _my _sister, I'd feel obligated to kick their ass too! Duncan probably had it coming to him a long time ago."

Crystal sighed. Walking to the kitchen she poured herself a bowl of cereal and milk. "I was just embarrassed is all."

"Well you shouldn't be," Lorna assured her. "What I think, Crys is that you need to find out more about him. I don't think you know enough."

"I do know him," Crystal insisted, her grip on her spoon loosening.

"How long have you been going out with him?" Lorna asked, crossing her arms and leaning against the wall. "A month and a half? Two?"

Crystal's brow furrowed. "Well...if you don't count the three month break we had from each other it would be...five months."

Lorna snorted from her spot. The two had only been on a couple dates when Crystal found out he had been dating other women when he was seeing her and she stopped seeing him all together. Well, that was until they started all over again.

"What you need to know, Crys," Lorna told her, "Is if he's prone to anger easily. Is he cruel to others? Is he just an asshole in general? Is he like all other men I know and is horny all the damn time?"

"Well..." Crystal began blush coloring her cheeks slightly. "I wouldn't doubt if he's...made love before," Lorna snorted and rolled her eyes. Really, Crystal just couldn't call it just plain 'meaningless wild animal sex'. "The ladies do seem to flock to him. He's good looking, so yeah, he probably has. But he's never...he's never instigated that he wanted to do that with, well, me."

"Just because he's sexy doesn't mean that he's automatically gotten laid before," Lorna said, taking a step forward and pulling out a chair at the table, taking a seat. She was getting interested.

Crystal shook her head. "No, I'm pretty sure he's a slut." Lorna burst into giggles.

"Well, if he's a slut and you two haven't done it yet, that means he's probably sexually frustrated and just took his anger out on Duncan," Lorna said, "and that means that he's not easy to anger...I guess. He just needed a distraction from his lack of sex and keeping your relationship monogamous."

Crystal sighed and shook her head slightly.

. . . . . . . . .

Two Weeks Later... 

Pietro entered his room silently and shut the door behind him, with one hand gripping the towel at his waist. When the door clicked shut, he threw the towel in one of the corners of his tidy room. It hit the wall and fell to the floor, looking out of place among his neatly arranged belongings. He growled.

He walked over to the dresser and opened one of the drawers roughly, digging to find some clothes to wear. He glanced briefly behind him at the cell phone that was lying innocently on his nightstand table. She hadn't called.

Well, he wasn't going to call her. If she were going to be stubborn like that, he would be too.

The door opened and Pietro jumped about three feet into the air in surprise.

"We're engaged!" Lance said excitedly, holding Kitty's hand in the doorway. Pietro let out a strangled yelp and dove behind his bed, which obscured him from the view by the door. A hand went up and grabbed the blanket on his bed, pulling it down to him. He quickly wrapped it as best he could around his waist and stood up, his face flushed from embarrassment and anger.

"Asshole! Knock next time, willya?!" He snarled, clutching the blanket around him tighter as he felt it begin to slip.

Kitty's face was red like a beet, and she looked anywhere but at Pietro. Lance's was too, but it was from embarrassment for Kitty. Everybody in the damn house had seen each other naked before. It was sort of inevitable when there wasn't a lock to the bathroom. He had wished to spare Kitty that.

Oh well.

"Yeah, well we're engaged," Lance repeated, squeezing Kitty's hand tighter. Pietro took a moment and stared at them both as the redness started to fade away on his face and neck.

"Yeah, well congrats then," He grumbled, looking away. Abruptly he seized the phone on the stand and hurled it at the wall by the door. Kitty jumped back with a gasp.

"Well, don't just stand there! I'm naked dammit! Now get out, OUT!" Pietro shouted pointing at them. Kitty scrambled out of the room and down the hallway. Lance stood there for a moment but then sighed and closed the door softly behind him.

Pietro stared at the door until his breathing became more controlled. His eyes spotted the shattered remnants of his cell phone on the floor.

"Aww dammit!" He growled but then collapsed to the floor in a heap. He rubbed his hand over his face wearily. He felt so stressed lately.

"God, I need to get laid."

. . . . . . . . . . .

Howdy guys! Sorry the chapter's so short! No shout outs this time, sorry again I'm too lazy right now. But thanks for reviewing anyways!

Now, excuse me while I mop up my drool from that whole Pietro part.

Like it? Hate it? Either way, review!


	14. Fantasies

Disclaimer- "SANTAA!!! I KNOW HIM! SANTA HERE?! I KNOW HIM! I KNOW HIM!"

A/N: Sorry, sorry, sorry for the lack of updates on all my stories. You see, my computer's been down for a month…a month ago. Spyware is such a hassle, honestly. Anyways! I also have lots of homework! Not that I actually do it at _home_, but still. I've also been stumped on what to write next. Ideas just weren't coming to me. But anyways, I swear all of my fics will be finished. I'm not abandoning them. And possibly after three of them are finished, I might post my Inuyasha fic I've outlined (yay! I actually planned it out!), with a few one-shots here or there, including a Harry Potter one that's partially done at four pages at the moment, and is much better than my other HP fic. I also have finals next week, and I think I'm actually going to attempt to study this time. I don't want to fail Biology and Algebra. Which I'm both getting low C's in, sadly.

Chapter Fourteen- Fantasies

Crystal hummed as she sliced the apple on the countertop. She took a bite out of one of the crunchy and juicu pieces, relishing the taste. After finishing munching on the rest of them, she quickly washed her sticky hands and then reached back to tie her long curtain of thick blonde hair up into a knot at the top of her head.

Walking silently across her carpet in her bare feet, she made her way to the washroom, intent on having a nice soak in a hot bath. She drew back the curtain to the bathtub, making sure that it was outside of the tub so it wouldn't soak in the water. That was a quick way for shower curtains to get moldy, and she wasn't in the mood to clean them up.

Stopping the water until it was nearly filled to the brim, she stripped herself of her clothes and stepped in gingerly, the water still a little too hot for her skin but she quickly got used to it. She lowered herself in until she sat down with her back leaning against one side of the tub. She grabbed the bottle of bubble bath on one of the shelves where the shampoo and conditioner was and quickly poured a small amount in, and it seemed almost instantly that her tub was filled with white foam.

As she allowed herself to relax, her eyes began to droop. She began to daydream, feeling a warm, kind of rough hand rub up along her upper arm, to her shoulders and to the back of her neck, where it lingered. She cracked her eyes open a bit, seeing a hazy picture of a white-haired man with brilliant blue eyes kneeling beside the tub. She shivered as the touch sent chills of pleasure down her spine, and as if the hand knew what it was doing, it gently stroked up and down her neck, around her shoulders again, down her arm, up her arm stopping midway, then…

Crystal snapped her eyes open immediately as she inhaled a small amount of water. She pushed herself up so she surfaced the bubbly water, choking and coughing up the water. She put a hand on her chest in an attempt to ease the pain in her lungs, and after quite a few deep breaths, she was somewhat calm, although her heart still thumped madly. She scowled at a spot on the wall across from her.

"You see what you do to me, Pietro? I almost drowned myself," she muttered, but then sighed wistfully. She contemplated calling him later. She hadn't spoken to him in three weeks and whether she liked it or not, she missed him; the look he sent her, his soft white hair, his blue eyes, the affect his arrogant smirk had on her. His kisses. It was overwhelming.

She allowed herself perhaps another half hour to soak before turning on the drain and stepping out. Wrapping a rather short, thick fluffy purple towel around her and a towel-turban around her hair, she went to her sink to brush her teeth. Grabbing her toothbrush from its holder and opening her medicine cabinet to get the toothpaste, she bent down and began vigorously brushing her teeth. When she was down, she spit in the sink, rinsed her mouth, set her toothbrush and toothpaste back and reached up to close the medicine cabinet. She nearly died from fright from what she saw in the mirror. She turned abruptly.

Leaning against the open doorway to her bathroom was Pietro. He didn't seem to be trying to be arrogant or cocky at the moment, although even when he wasn't he still managed to look somewhat like it. His arms were crossed across his chest and a rather impassive look was on his face. He uncrossed his arms and took a step forward.

"Crystal…" he began but she interrupted.

"How the hell did you get in here?"

"Balcony was open," he said. "Crystal…" He took another step forward, and two more would have eliminated the space between them.

"What-what are you," she managed to force out but he took another step towards her and she faltered, an odd sort of heat filling her face.

"Crystal I've been thinking about you," he said in a low voice; he was leaning down towards her while he took another step forward. She tried to back away but only managed to hit the sink. She was now aware that she was only in a towel. Her face became hotter.

"I've missed you," he said it so quietly that she was sure she wouldn't have been able to hear him if his face hadn't been three inches from hers. She squeaked.

"It took a big blow to my pride by coming here," he said, his breath tickling her face, his lips millimeters from hers now. "I'm always the dumper, Crystal, not the dumpee."

"I-I've never dumped you," she stuttered, her face a deep crimson. Her eyes began to droop; his were already closed.

"Good," he whispered before closing the distance from his lips to hers. It was a chaste kiss at first, but he ran his tongue along her full lips, and instinctively, they parted for him to enter. It deepened before he pulled back, leaving Crystal feeling disappointed.

Then she felt a pair of lips on her jaw line, trailing down in light butterfly kisses down the stem of her neck and to the crook of her neck. He rested his lips there for a moment, breathing heavily as Crystal's heart was thumping madly in her chest. His hands rested at her waist and slowly pulled her closer towards him until her body was smashed against his. He embraced her as he continued to lightly kiss her neck, shoulder, and face.

"Crystal," he moaned, his eyes screwed shut. "Crystal I need this. I need you."

And Crystal wanted him too, but she was frightened like one of those little trembling dogs. And she trembled just as much too, but she swallowed and nodded slightly. Pietro planted a soft kiss where his face was buried in the crook of her neck.

Pietro scooped her up in his arms; his right arm hooked around the back of her knees while his left supported her back. He carried her towards the bedroom.

"Pietro," Crystal whispered hesitantly as he pushed the door open with his foot. "I've never done this before."

The smallest smile graced his features, and for once in her life, she saw his eyes brighten. "Crystal, do you trust me?" he asked softly as he walked her over to the bed. She nodded, gulping. "Then you have nothing to worry about."

* * *

Oh boy! Yes! Finally they do it! Not explicit, of course. This was just kissing. It's a really short chapter too. Sorry. But anyways, they finally do it. Little earlier than I expected it to be; I meant for this to happen in chapter 17. Happy, Zee?

I've also started planning the sequel. It's going to be a 'R' fic, and definitely not going to be as happy. But it'll have it's moments.

Like it? Hate it? Either way, review!


	15. Men are the Supreme Idiots of the Univer...

_Disclaimer- I WISH I owned Pietro…Then you'd see _more _of him. And he can be my personal slave along with Sirius Black (NOT Gary Oldman's version shudders), Tom Felton, Inuyasha, Sesshoumaru, Legolas, and Miroku. Oh and Merry and Pippin. And Charlie from 'Lost' who IS actually Merry but still…_

_A/N- Story has been upped to 'R' because of language and because they talk about having sex. This isn't a lemon, just so you know. Though the sequel is, but it won't be out for a while. I plan on finishing at least 'In Dreams' first and then I have this 10 chaptered Inuyasha fic I want to get out. _

Chapter Fifteen- Men are the Supreme Idiots of the Universe

"He better look somewhere else if he doesn't want his eyeballs ripped out of his sockets and shoved so far up his ass he can taste them," Pietro muttered to Crystal, giving one of the grocery store's employees a filthy look.

"Relax," Crystal said soothingly, grabbing a carton of orange juice as they walked past and depositing it in the shopping cart. Pietro's arm just tightened around her waist and his eyes kept darting to the pimply-faced teenager who dared look at her.

"Relax?" he hissed disbelievingly. "_Relax?_ You want me to- when he's looking at places only _I'm_ allowed to look at?"

Crystal rolled her eyes and then stared up at the heavens- or rather the dome-shaped security camera on the ceiling. She smiled up at her distorted reflection. Meanwhile besides her, Pietro was still muttering obscenities about the boy.

"He's _still _looking!" He seethed through clenched teeth. The boy caught Pietro giving him his piercing glare and quickly averted his gaze. "Yeah you better look away you bleeding, horny-assed, shit-faced, ass-fuck."

"Pietro!" Crystal scolded indignantly. "Hasn't anyone bothered to wash your mouth out with soap?"

"No," he said tersely, his body tensed. He said nothing else and she took that as a sign that she shouldn't either.

They didn't say another word as they went into one of the lines and started to unload the food from the cart. The cashier was a young lady around twenty-seven or so with rather plain looks; she gave Pietro a wide smile.

"Had any trouble finding anything?" she asked, her eyes fluttering a little.

Pietro smirked, looking amused. "Nope," he said easily, his eyes drifting to the check Crystal was writing out. He looked back at the cashier. She was staring back rather hungrily at him but he wasn't fazed at all by this; he was too used to it to care.

Crystal however, knew exactly what the lady was doing and she knew that she should scream at him for encouraging the girl. He _had _been complaining about the teenaged boy that just _happened _to look her way and had overreacted about it. She ignored it anyhow and pursed her lips in a thin line, pressing down rather harder than necessary with her pen while writing it out.

Ripping the check out of her checkbook rather forcefully so she nearly ripped it in half, Crystal drew the cashier's attention to her as she handed it to her. The woman looked at her with a look of jealously until her eyes darted back to Pietro. She gave him a dimpled grin and without taking her eyes off of him, she opened the cash register and laid the check in it. He smirked, his hand coming up to rest on the small of Crystal's back as he gave his hand a little pressure on his back so she would walk forward.

"Lady couldn't keep her eyes off me," he told her as they began to load the groceries in the trunk of her car, his arrogant smirk still in place. "Think her name was Gayle…or was it Gina? Dunno, doesn't matter."

She slammed the trunk down, almost smashing his fingers in the process; the only thing that saved them was his powers. He looked at her indignantly.

"What the hell was that for?" he hissed, his piercing blue glare boring a hole in the back of her neck as she entered the driver's seat and slammed the door shut, starting the ignition.

She gave him a withering look as she began to roll up her window but he grabbed her hand from the inside and stopped her, then pressed the button until it came all the way down again.

"Look if you're just gonna be pissed at me I'll run back." He leaned forward a bit to kiss her lips but she turned her head towards the direction of the windshield so he settled on her cheek. He gave a loud sigh mixed with exasperation and what could have been anger.

She backed out of the parking space, ignoring that she almost ran over his foot when he gave a surprised yelp.

As she stopped at a streetlight, she saw his signature blur pass all of the cars, and she was sure she heard a faint manic laugh.

Crystal sighed into the phone. "Fine, you're forgiven. Come over, we'll have dinner." There was no answer. "Pietro?"

"Hello sexy lady," a voice said from the balcony doors. She shrieked and the phone dropped from where it was resting between her ear and shoulder. Pietro stood there, dressed in regular clothes but he had a red rose twirling in his hand.

"Well," he drawled, "aren't ya gonna invite me in? You said we'll have dinner."

Crystal smiled, walked over to him, plucked the rose from his hand and gave him a sweet, yet passionate kiss.

* * *

In the few weeks following, Crystal learned just how _much _Pietro liked- no _loved_- to have sex or anything that had had something sexual to do at all. And it seemed he wanted it a lot. Every day, in fact.

She figured that he must have been holding back on her before they first made love so as not to frighten her off. She had been right.

"Didn't want to scare you off," he told her when she had asked; not seeming to be paying much attention to what she was saying as he was in getting his hands under her shirt. She did nothing to stop him, of course, and it wasn't like she didn't like it at all. She enjoyed it, matter-of-fact.

Pietro straddled her legs now on the couch, being careful in keeping all of his weight on his knees. He had grabbed the bottom of her shirt and began to pull it off, kissing her neck, shoulders, and collar-bone as he did so. Suddenly, she had a strange impulse to ask a very stupid (in her opinion) question.

"Pietro ("Mmph?" he has asked in the crook of her neck) what do you love most in the world?" She felt him freeze at what he was doing and look at her with a questioning and confused blue gaze.

"Sex?" he answered, almost unsure himself. He must have seen the heartbroken look on her face (because at that moment she felt her heart shatter in to little tiny pieces), because he tried to fix his blunder. "With you?"

Her face crumpled and the downpour came. Why she was crying like a baby, she didn't know, but she knew _he _caused it with his insensitive words- the jerk.

With even more strength than even Juggernaut could have been able to handle, she shoved him off her and he landed flat on his ass on the hard floor.

"Wha-" Pietro's brow furrowed and then just as swiftly as the sky does on a rainy day, his face darkened and his eyes flashed. "What the hell's the matter with you? Why're you cryin' for?"

"Because you're the biggest asshole I've ever laid eyes on!" she screamed at him, sobs wracking her body.

"What the fuck did I do?" he yelled, towering over her when he jumped to his feet. She jumped to her feet too, her green eyes sparking with an angry fire.

"You love _sex _most in the world?" she shrieked, "_Sex_? You bleeding, horny-assed, shit-faced, ass-fuck!"

He stuttered for a moment, surprised at the way she was cussing. "Quit taking my insults!" he hollered angrily, a vein ticking at his temple, his was face red like a tomato. "There's something wrong with you! One moment you're happy as a loon, the next you're bawling your fricken eyes out, and then you're a raving lunatic and asking stupid questions? Why'd you ask that if it was just gonna lead to a row? Huh?"

"_Raving lunatic?"_ she hissed and slapped him across his gorgeous face with all the strength she could muster; she sure hoped he wouldn't bruise…

"I asked because I love you, you stubborn jackass!" She shrieked, amid fresh, choking sobs. Their eyes widened, both froze, and Crystal's hands flew to her mouth.

She fearfully watched him for any kind of sign of emotion: anger, disgust, contentment. But there was none. He stood there like a deer caught in headlights: his eyes were painfully wide open, glazed over, his mouth slightly agape, and he seemed to be staring at a place right through her. She ran out of the room without a word, her back turned as he sat down slowly on the couch, resting his elbows on his knees and his head in shaky hands.

* * *

_Oh lordy. She's finally admitted it! Now we just need him to... Mwahaha! Three more chapters left after this, folks. Holy cow, it's been almost a year since I published this!_

_Would've updated this probably sooner, but I was busy taking care of my pooch because she had Limphoma or something like that and she wouldn't eat and the only way she'd drink was if I held a small cup of water in front of her.. Well, we put her to sleep now, so my foot-warmer's gone. It'll take me a while to get over her. She was my buddy._

_Has anyone ever seen the movie, "Out of Africa"? It's an older movie with Meryl Streep and Robert Redford? Anyways, Robert Redford was gorgeous in it. Has that handsome, rugged look drool. _

_And I have RotK special extended version! AND the first two Inuyasha movies yay! 'Cept Kagome DOES kind of get annoying with her incessant screaming of "Inuyasha!" And it's not even like that it's like 'Inuyashaaaaaaa!" Actually it's not even like THAT! The end of the name is screamed kinda squeakily and her voice breaks and its all outta tune and stuff like: "InuyashaaAAAaaaAAaAaA!"_

_Over all, it was a good movie. Here is a little excerpt from the first film:_

_Kagome: Inuyasha! (jumps from a considerable height off of Kirara)_

_Inuyasha: Hm? You idiot! (sticks very large sword, Tetsutsaiga, into the ground and catches Kagome with a little twirl as she falls into his arms)_

_Inuyasha: That was a little reckless._

_Kagome: Yeah, well I knew you'd catch me so I figured I'd take the fast way (we are actually being shown Miroku watching them with wide eyes)_

_Inuyasha: (it's still Miroku on the screen with the same look) You're not a piece of baggage, dummy!_

_Miroku: (turns and looks at Kirara and Sango, who is on the demon kitty, spreads his arms out) Sango! No need to be shy! Come, fall into my arms!"_

_Sango: (blushes and throws something at his head)_

_Miroku: (kind of muffled) Hey-ow_

_Shippo: Idiot_

_Yes! Go rent or buy the movie! There's GOT to be some IY fans reading this besides Insanebunneh!_

_Uncanny R-Man- Crystal's family will be introduced in the sequel. They're not gonna be nice to poor Pie either. Thanks for reviewing!  
_

_Zee4- I knew you'd be happy! Aww! You'd read straight people having sex for me?! That means a lot, Zee! And usually I'm opposed to reading same sex people having sex, but I DO read yours! __ A new story would be good, but 'Down' must be updated! And I did do good on my finals! Three A's, three B's, and one C (I hate algebra) Did you have 'em?_

_Insanebunneh- When's that present gonna be shipped again? And you still need to review 'Up in Flames' it is your DUTY. Now I'm upset. Look, you've made me upset. (makes a Shippo-like face when he gives his 'puppy' look.)_

_Darkstorm5000- Ooh! A new reviewer! Hello there! You're compliments mean a lot! There are some fics out there with Crystal/Pietro. Alison Sky writes them, and 'From the Shadows' has her mentioned, though it's like 92 chapters long. Still good though. _

_Kyuushi- Mags isn't going to be in this story…He will be in the next one though. And Crystal's already met Wanda. BUT I'll have a little 'Meet the Parents' with Pietro with Crystal's parents…It's more amusing! Mwahaha!_

_Thanks all for reviewing! _

_Like it? Hate it? Either way, review!_


	16. Nauseous

_Disclaimer- Don't own. _

_A/N- I'll TRY to post the next chapter by next Sunday (2-6-05) at the very latest. Key word, 'try'. I have been getting a lot more homework now and have been busy doing that, watching my recorded Inuyasha episodes, drawing IY characters (they're good too! If you want to check them out tell me, leave me your email address, and I'll see if they'll show up on the scanner and then email them to you. I want others' opinions on them besides friends and family!) After the next chapter we only have one left. Huzzah! _

Chapter Sixteen- Nauseous

Pietro had run home. The moment he set his foot outside, it started to pour rain and he cursed fate for making his life so difficult.

Never, ever, in all his life with the exception of Wanda had anyone told him that they had loved him. Maybe his adoptive parents, the Maximoff's, had, but it was so far back in his memory that he hardly remembered. He really didn't remember the time before Magneto. He didn't _want _to remember, in fear that there had been a time when he was happy until his life came spiraling down into the hell it was now.

Now Crystal was pissed as hell at him.

_Crap, crap, crapcrapcrapcrapcrap. _

He ran through the puddles that formed on the sidewalks, and made a shortcut through the park to the boarding house. The grass had been so slick that he actually slipped and skidded across the grass a good twelve feet, covered in mud. He cursed fate again.

Hardly anyone nearby paid any attention to him; instead concentrating on finding shelter from the rain. A few glanced at his mud-covered form, looking scandalized when he uttered a few colorful words.

He got up, shot them a sneer, and then sped on off again, careful to avoid the mud pile he had made.

His thoughts drifted back to Crystal.

He had been a complete idiot.

But that's what she did to him.

Something tightened painfully in his chest as her heartbroken face flashed in his mind's eye, her lips quivering slightly and her emerald eyes filling with tears. She would never talk to him now after that stunt he pulled and the thought of losing her made his chest constrict painfully again, suddenly making it difficult to breath. He felt sick. Nauseous.

Never had anyone had such an affect on him. He was a loner by nature, one to be alone in the world of the slow living. He had covered it up, using his good looks to his advantage and snatching all the ladies right from under their feet. But inside he was just a lonely man, wishing desperately to be normal and to fit in. But even among mutants like him haven't comforted him as much as he thought they would. Something had been missing.

He had found what it was and he had no intention of losing it.

But just for now….

He'd wait, and it was the last thing in the world he wanted to do.

* * *

She was a fool. She realized that now. You don't just tell a man you love them and expect them to feel giddy, sweep you up in their arms, and claim that they loved you back. 

The expression on his face was etched in to her memory and it wouldn't leave her be. He was shocked, that much she saw. It was like no one had ever told him that before. But that couldn't be possible; Pietro knew loads of people that cared for him. He was probably told that he was loved almost everyday. She certainly was, when she talked to her sister and friends on the phone they would tell each other before they hung up. He probably went through the same thing.

Or at least, she thought he did.

She stood up from where she had been huddled up on the couch, swaying slightly as she felt a little dizzy and lightheaded but also slightly nauseous.

Probably caught the flu, she thought to herself. 

She was so caught up in her thoughts about the man she loved that she didn't realize that it wasn't the flu season. It was almost August.

Rubbing her belly absentmindedly, she made her way to the kitchen, prepared on peeling her an apple and spreading a bit of peanut butter on it.

After finishing that task, she took a long soak in the tub, enjoying the warm feeling the hot water provided as it surrounded her and literally soaked her to the bones.

Distantly she heard the phone ring. She groaned; scrunching her eyes up and sinking further into the bubbly depths of her bathtub until only her nose and up was above the water. She let the phone ring on.

Hearing the answering machine record a message, she sighed, sinking even further into the now lukewarm water.

After toweling herself dry and wrapping her turban-towel around her hair, she made her way to the phone and checked her caller I.D. It had been Lorna.

She quickly dialed the number, listening as the phone rang four times before her friend on the other line finally picked it up.

"Buenos nochase, mon amiga," Lorna answered, completely butchering the Spanish language. Well, she had failed that language when she took it in high school, so it was no big surprise.

Crystal sighed, "Hello, Lorna. You called?"

"Yes, yes I did. I was just wondering if you're free tomorrow. We're gonna have another sleepover," the young woman asked over the phone.

"Yeah, I guess I am," Crystal sighed.

"You sound depressed, girl. Why are you free? No Pietro to snuggle up to later?" Lorna asked. "Oh, you would not guess who I saw today."

"Who?" Crystal asked dully.

"Pietro! Yeah, I was cutting through the park for a shortcut to get to my car cause it started to rain, and all of a sudden he appears out of thin air, sliding across the ground; all covered in mud and grass and crap like that. I was gonna call out to him but he was gone about three seconds later. _And _after throwing a concerned old couple a very nasty sneer, might I add. He handled himself very dignified, considering that on one side of his head his hair was sticking straight up and nearly his entire face had been coated with mud." Lorna told her without seeming to pause for breath.

Crystal swallowed. "Yeah…so?"

Lorna suddenly sounded very serious.

"Crystal…humans don't just appear out of thin air like that."

Crystal swallowed, feeling nauseous again. She remained silent.

"Humans also don't disappear from sight at what seems to be the speed of light-or sound whatever."

Crystal still hadn't said anything.

"He's a mutant, isn't he?"

"Yes," Crystal said, so softly that Lorna thought for a second that Crystal hadn't said anything at all.

"I've looked him up, Crystal, after that fiasco at the workout center. He's part of that Brotherhood, Crystal. They're dangerous, if you haven't heard in the news a few years ago. They _hijacked _a train. To earn money." Lorna's voice had a slight edge to it. "They're crooks, Crystal. I don't want you mixed up in that."

"I've met them," Crystal said, her voice trembling slightly, "They're nice. A little…psychotic, but they're really nice people. I'm sure they don't do things like that anymore."

Lorna sighed. "Fine. Believe what you will. But please, _please_, listen to me. I don't want you to end up hurt. I love you, you're one of my best friends in the whole, wide world. Please ask him about it. If he tells you he had done it in the past, then I think you can trust him. If he denies any of it, I wouldn't, because I know the truth."

"We had a fight. I-I slapped him across the face. I don't think we'll be talking for awhile. I love him to death…and I told him so. But- I'm going to let things cool down first. Then I'll ask him." She paused, "I promise."

"Good, because you both need to trust each other more…Be honest with each other." Her tone suggested that she was indicating something. Lorna paused for effect as Crystal held her breath.

"Tell him what you are."

* * *

_Yes! Two more chapters to go. And if I made a mistake about Crystal's friends not knowing about Pietro being a mutant…I'm going to fix that in earlier chapters so they don't. I just didn't have the energy to look back and check._

_Or I'm just lazy._

_Darkstorm5000- Thanks for your review! Pietro's going to have to get used to the 'L' word. Yep._

_The Uncanny R-Man- Yep, Pietro blew it. He's just not used to affection like that though. He grew up in rotten foster homes. But he's still stupid. But we love him anyways._

_Zee4- Yes. Pie is VERY much a hypocrite. I hate those…argh. And Crystal was stupid. She completely threw him off by saying that. The first day me and my ex-boyfriend started going out, he told me he loved me. I'm like 'aww? Thanks?' lol I didn't know what to say._

_Insanebunneh- I have your picture on hold… And you still have to give me those little Inuyasha figurines…cause they're my Christmas presents! Mine! Mine!_

_Kyuushi- You have NO idea what your review meant to me. Or maybe you do, you probably had one like it before. About Crystal being human or inhuman, wait till uh…last chapter I think. Or just look back in earlier chapters, cause I mentioned it before ;-)_

_Thanks for reviewing!_

_Liked it? Hate it? Either way, review!_


	17. You're a What Now?

_Disclaimer- Don't own anything you recognize. I don't even own Trojan. _

_I know I'm a week late. I'm PMSing, I have cramps, I had homework- I think we're even._

_Crystal's family history is being changed a teensy bit from the comics, but it's basically the same._

Chapter Seventeen- You're a What Now?

Crystal had a horrible week. She was peeing and puking all over the place (ok, she was doing both in the bathroom, not "all over the place"), she had been late for both work (she only worked part-time at waitressing, since her parents and sister liked to provide her with the money) and her classes, and she spent her whole time at Lorna's sulking. Not that her friends helped with the sulking, either; they kept bringing up Pietro (only because she was sulking, although she wouldn't admit to that).

"Oh shut up and stop moaning and call him already!" Damita had snapped at her when Crystal had given a rather long and wistful sigh after seeing a Trojan commercial. She had complained how close the couple seemed to be and how they never seemed to fight and the only thing that was missing in their relationship was in the bedroom. Still, they looked happy and that put Crystal in a mood. Val had pointed out that the couple had been talking to each other for five seconds before the Trojan Man came and that she would have no idea about how their relationship was.

A fight had ensued. It ended fairly quickly, after declaring a truce with ice cream.

After spending that lovely evening at her friend's place, Crystal had driven herself home and dialed His home number (he had told her that he smashed his cell and that he hadn't bothered to order a new one yet). After letting it ring once, she hung up. The second time, she let it ring twice before she hung up. The third time, she got as far as Toad answering the phone before she hung up _again_.

'Why the hell am I so nervous?' she thought. She let out a shaky breath and put the portable back onto its device, deciding to call later before she pissed off any more of the boarding house's occupants.

She nearly jumped out of her skin when her phone rang. With a hand on her chest in an attempt to steady her racing heartbeat, she peered at the Caller ID.

Bayville Boarding House.

'Crap, crap, crap, crap.' She chanted in her head. She had forgotten that they had Caller ID too.

Her hand hovered above the phone, and on the fourth ring, she picked it up, turned it on, and then quickly hung it back up. Letting out a breath of relief, Crystal turned to relax on the couch.

It rang again.

Nearly crying, Crystal threw a tantrum (which meant that she stomped her feet and gave an irritated cry at the back of her throat) on the five steps back to where the phone was.

Gathering up all the nerves and courage that she had left, Crystal turned on the phone and spoke.

"Hello?"

"What're you calling the boarding house three times for and hanging up?" it was His voice.

She tried to sound offended. "I did no such thing."

"Yes you did." Was that a _chuckle_ in his tone? Was he _laughing_ at her?

'That means he's not mad so no shouting matches then,' she thought to herself.

"Look, we need to talk," she said, resting her hand on the end table the phone had rested on and looking down at its surface.

"So that's why you called," he said, now seeming to understand, "and that's why you hung up. Because of course it's talking when you hang up on the person you want to talk to-"

"Just shut up, this is serious," she snapped. "Come over as soon as you can."

There was a pause.

"Pietro?"

Pause.

"Pietro?"

"Yeah alright," he said irritably, "Don't get your panties all bunched up. Give me a minute, I need to do something first."

There was a click, followed by the dial tone. She slammed the phone back on its hook.

"Arrogant bastard," she said, almost as if realizing it now.

Crystal went to look for something to do while she waited for him to come over, but before she had the chance to find anything she heard the balcony door slide open and close.

He was standing there with his white hair windswept. There was an impassive expression on his face as he looked at her with his arms crossed against his chest and his back leaning against the wall next to the sliding glass doors.

He was wearing his uniform.

Her brows furrowed as she took in this new bit of information. His uniform was almost a dark teal (or was it blue-green? She couldn't tell at the moment) in places, with a lighter tone in others. It was tight- _Lordy was it tight_- especially at his torso, arms, and legs. She tried to control where her eyes roamed.

She licked her dry lips as he waited for her to start talking, and she opened her mouth but only to close it again. Shutting her eyes for a brief moment to calm the gutter thoughts racing through her head, which only intensified the more she tried to calm them; she attempted to speak again. Her voice sounded a little hoarser than usual.

"Are you comfortable in that?"

Okay…that was _not_ what she had meant to say!

He raised his left eyebrow, the corners of his lips twitching. He seemed to be chewing the inside of his cheek.

"I get around fairly well in it," he managed to get out with only the barest hint of amusement in his voice (she applauded him silently for that). "It…" he was trying very hard not to grin, "stretches. S' little tight, but not uncomfortably so. Why? Wanted to try it on?"

"No," she squeaked, feeling her face heat up. This time he did grin and started to pull it down at his shoulder as if to take it off for her.

"Sure?" he asked. She nodded vigorously. He sighed, still grinning, and pulled it back up.

"Well, you wanted to talk?" he said, raising his eyebrow again in question.

She nodded. "Yes. Um...sit down."

He obliged, sitting on the couch with his right leg (rather ankle) resting on his left knee.

'Why, oh, WHY did he do that?' she began to gnaw viciously on her tongue to keep herself from saying anything.

He seemed to think nothing of his position, however, as he rested his arms on the back of the sofa; he looked at his fingernails nonchalantly- his uniform covered his hands too, with holes for his fingers and thumbs.

"Um, there's something I need to tell you," she averted her eyes up to his face and tried to keep them there. He looked at her expectantly, pausing in his examination of his nails. "I'm not exactly uh…I'm not exactly," Oh how to put this, "human."

His expression clearly said, 'What the fuck?'

He blinked. She took that as a sign for her to continue.

"Yeah, well y'see…I'm an Inhuman," she looked at him again for a reaction. There seemed to be none, but she knew that was because he still had no idea what the hell she was talking about.

"It's-it's uh, sort of like a mutant, I guess." He blinked twice more. "My family…we all have powers. But uh, we weren't born with a mutant gene like you were. We have this ritual where uh…we go into this thing called the Terrigan Mists, which gives us our powers. My family…they're rich as heck. My brother-in-law Black Bolt is sort of the…king I guess you can say- or president of the Inhumans."

He still stared at her blankly. She sighed, knowing she had to explain even further. "My father's sister married the leader of the Inhumans and they had two children: Blackagar Boltagon and-"

She stopped when he settled both feet on the floor, leaned forward with his elbows on his knees and rested his head in his hands. She knew she lost him there.

"Are you listening?" she asked. She did not want to explain this again if he was not.

"Blackagar Boltagon. And you call him Black Bolt? What in the hell…" he trailed off, shaking his head and motioned for her to continue.

"Anyways, my aunt and uncle had two children: Blackagar Boltagon and Maximus. Black Bolt was the elder of the two, so he would take the place of his father. Until he turned nineteen, however, he was isolated because his power is dangerous. If he speaks, he, er, obliterates you, literally. Not fun, not safe. Anyways-"

"Wait," he suddenly interrupted, "I thought you said Black Bolt was your brother-in-law? Now he's your cousin?"

She threw back her head and stared at the ceiling, silently counting slowly to ten. "Let me finish."

There was a slight pause, and then, "Fine."

"My sister Medusa happened upon him when they were both young. They grew very close, and soon she was able to interpret hand signals from him to understand what he was saying. They married soon after Medusa turned eighteen, three years after Black Bolt was released."

"…So you're hicks?"

She growled, grabbed the small pillow nearest to her and hurled it at him. "It's not their fault they fell in love, idiot!"

He easily caught the pillow. "Yeah but she knew he was your cousin! And then she married him anyway! That's siiiiiick, Crystal!"

"Shut up and let me finish."

He glowered at her. "Fine."

"My cousin Maximus was always a little tweaked in his head. He went ballistic when Black Bolt became our leader. He killed ten Inhumans and left Attilan. None of us have seen him since."

"What the fuck is Attilan?" Pietro growled, frustrated.

"A small, remote island in the Atlantic Ocean," she told him. "I came here to New York when I was fourteen during my freshman year of high school. Meanwhile, my cousin moved the Inhumans to a remote place in the Himalayans. It's clean there, and Inhumans are susceptible to disease. I've been taking vaccinations for years so I wouldn't get horribly sick."

"And you all have powers?" there was a slight edge to his tone.

"Yes," Crystal said reluctantly, nodding. "I control the Earth's elements: fire, water, air, and earth. I can only do so for an hour though, and if I'm controlling multiple elements, I can only do it up to forty-five minutes. I haven't used my powers since I was seventeen. I hadn't needed to."

"And you decided to tell me all this _now_ because…?"

"Because I was afraid at how you would react," she admitted, looking at her hands in her lap guiltily.

He let out the most exasperated, irritated, and angry sigh she had ever heard. "Crystal… I'm a mutant! My friends are nuts and Pyro is a Grade A psycho! And I live with them!. How could I react any differently than asking you what the hell is an Inhuman?" He stared intensely at her. She smiled at him a little.

"Now- what the hell is an Inhuman?"

"A being that has superior strength over humans, but humans are superior to us in their immunity to diseases. That's the easiest and most understandable way I can explain it." Crystal told him.

He nodded, processing all of this newfound information in his overactive brain. He took a deep breath, glanced at the clock on the VCR and sighed. Gazing at her, he smiled a fraction and leaned forward, giving her a short, chaste kiss on the lips.

"I need to go, alright?" he said, pulling away a few inches. "I'll call you in…two days. I'm busy today and tomorrow and I need some time to take in all this."

"Why are you busy?" Crystal asked suspiciously. Pietro was hardly busy, with his superspeed he could get everything he needed to do in three days done in an hour at the most.

He opened his mouth, and then closed it for a second before saying hesitantly, "It's Brotherhood business, Crystal. Nothing important."

He leaned over to peck her cheek and muttered a quick, "See you later," before zipping off to do whatever it was that he needed to do.

The weight on Crystal's shoulders lifted dramatically, but she couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed.

* * *

_I don't really like this chapter. I find it sort of boring with all the explanations and stuff but it needed to be done. Sorry if there's a lot of mistakes and stuff in this chapter, I'm tired and I don't feel up to reading it over. I did for the first three pages, but I usually always miss something. It's only 9:35. That worries me. Anyways! On to the replies!_

_Sona Camdyn- Ah ha! Now I know I have lurkers, which makes me feel a lot better! About Crystal being pregnant…you'll find out if she is or isn't in the next chapter, which is always the last. Whether she is or not, it all works out in the sequel. Like the chapter "Engagement" is set up for Lance and Kitty's wedding, which is in the sequel. I hope I'm not being clichéd. Thanks for dropping in to review, though!_

_Zee4- Yeah, I missed last week's deadline for this chapter. Oh well. Hopefully the next (and last) one will be up by the end of the month. It might not be, because I have a research paper on the Titanic due at the end of Feb. in English and a ten to twelve-page report on Poland due in Geography some time in March and I'm not even done with the first page. In the words of Ron White "I'm lo-o-o-o-o-o-a-a-a-a-d-d-d-d-e-d-d-d-d"(that's suppose to sound like a goat or a sheep or something similar) but with homework. Not money._

_The Uncanny R-Man- Hope this chapter answered your question ;-) Thanks for reviewing!_

_Kyuushi- About characterizing Mags right…I'm definitely not going to have him rape his children or beat them senseless if that's what you mean ;-) I make him cold and indifferent, but loving at the same time. Does that make sense? He's not going to be in it a lot, but he'll sure as heck be mentioned a lot more. Oh there's this scene with him in it that I really like! Buuut you'll have to wait!_

_InsaneBunneh- Whaa- how can Shippou be the biggest? He's suppose to be the smallest-( I want the figurines puh-leeeaaassee! I drew you a great Mir/San! On special paper! Aww. _

_Darkstorm5000- I love Luna. She's such a cutie and totally a Daddy's girl. I dunno, you might be right about that… you might not. We'll have to see next chapter! Mwahahahaha!_

_Like it? Hate it? Either way, review!_


	18. The Two Little Words Men Just Love to He...

_Disclaimer- Don't own._

_A/U- Last chapter people! Sorry for taking so long to update, but I just didn't know how to write it. Anyways, in other news, my birthday was March 2nd! Yay for me! This chapter's a little short for being the last chapter, but I can't really make it too long. Sorry._

Chapter Eighteen- The Two Little Words Men Just _Love _to Hear

Things had been tense between them lately, but Pietro tried his darned hardest to keep the atmosphere light and friendly. He took her out to the mall, bought her ice cream, wiped the chocolate ice cream from the corner of her lips, didn't comment on how she seemed to be shoveling all the food within a ten-mile radius in to her mouth; no matter how nice he was, she seemed to be hesitant to talk or really do anything, like she was nervous about something. Something was going on, and hell, he wanted to know what the heck it was.

At first, Pietro thought that it might have been because she thought that he didn't love her in return. He knew he did, but he wasn't the guy who just spontaneously spouted mushy crap on the spot. He wasn't in to all of the: "I love you, darling," "I love you more, my dearest," unless it was followed by hours of hot, steamy, wild, hyper sex. Maybe even a little kinky…

He shook his head, trying to hide his smile as he turned his head away from Crystal, who was busy, window-shopping. He squeezed her hand a little tighter and in return she squeezed his back.

Okay, so he loved her and wanted her to be the only person he would have make love with for the rest of his sex life (and he had no doubt in his mind that he would have one until the day he died). If he can refuse other women pawing at him, then that must be something like love, right? If he didn't feel the need to bang her every damn minute of the day and was content to hold back for a few days, that could be constituted as love, right?

'_I'll never figure all this shit out,_' he thought to himself.

Crystal paused suddenly and stared into a store. Pietro looked and saw baby things. A little grin tugged at his lips as he saw little gender-neutral clothes that could fit dolls displayed in the window. Maybe he and Crystal would have one for their own somedayin at least ten years of course. He was only twenty-one and still partying at clubs and consuming vast amounts of alcohol, and Crystal couldn't even drink legally yet for another year.

"C'mon you're scarin' me," he joked, tugging gently on her hand. She swallowed and reluctantly followed.

"Can we stop in the drugstore?" she asked in a meek voice and he turned to her with a questioning eyebrow raised. She refused to meet his eyes so he shrugged and faced forward again.

"Yeah, whatever," he tried to sound indifferent.

They walked to the nearest drugstore two blocks away from the baby shop. Crystal told him that she would only be a minute. He said he was coming in too but she said it would just be a waste of his time, and that it'd only take a minute. Then he offered to go in and get whatever she needed because he could get it quicker, but she adamantly refused and ordered him to stay there.

Despite the wound to his pride by being ordered (by a woman, no less), he stayed outside. He wasn't going risk losing any nookie, no sir-ee.

Crystal exited the store a few moments later, stuffing a bag with something in it into her purse. He grabbed her hand again and asked what it was.

"Tums," she said tersely. He could tell she was lying, but he didn't say anything and just narrowed his eyes. "Can you take me home? I don't feel well."

He frowned at her but went to scoop her up. "You haven't been feeling well for awhile now. Why don't ya go to a doctor?"

"I'm going Saturday."

'_Well,_' he thought, a little upset that she just let him know about the appointment now. He had been worried about her since she started spraying chunks all over.

"Want me to come?" he asked her.

She glared daggers at him.

'_Yee-ee' _he mentally made a nervous sort of sound.

"I can take care of myself, Pietro, it's probably just the stomach flu."

'_With that tone of voice I'm not sure I'd take care of you anyways.' _He thought. He sighed. "Fine."

Scooping her securely in his arms now, he ran the rest of the way to her apartment.

* * *

"Shit!" Crystal cursed, storming in to her apartment after returning home from the doctor's and throwing her keys into the wall. "Shit, shit, shit, shit."

It was surprising how much she was cussing at the moment, because she hardly ever swore in her life.

"Dammit!" She landed heavily on the couch and began to cry, feeling helpless and scared; a feeling she hadn't felt since she was a little girl.

Sometime during the day, she must have dozed off because the sky was a dark gray and it was late in the evening. The phone rang and she jumped, nearly having a heart attack.

She answered it with a shaky, "Hello?"

"I got reservations for us tomorrow at one hell of a fancy restaurant so dress nice," Pietro went straight to the topic.

She let out a breath of air and despite herself, smiled slightly. "Occasion?"

"Eh, had a taste for filet mignon. Not cheap shit either. The good stuff without the mad cow." She could practically hear the shrug in his voice.

Crystal laughed lightly. "Mad cow disease isn't even in the United States." 1

"You keep saying that," he told her, "Anyways, it'd be nice, right?"

"Yeah," she grinned. Her face and tone turned serious suddenly. "How are you going to pay for it? I mean, I would, but it's rude for a lady to take the bill."

"Hush, hush, you're not paying," he said exasperatedly. "Don't worry, I'll manage it."

"Pietro, for all I know you don't even have a job. How the hell are you getting money to pay for things like this?" She sounded angry.

"_I said I'll manage it_," he gritted out. "I do have a job."

"Yeah," she said disbelievingly, and despite herself she let out a harsh laugh. "We've been dating for seven months and you haven't mentioned once about having one."

"I have two. Maybe I just wanted to save enough to buy you a fuckin' fancy dinner. God dammit woman, just make yourself look dandy tomorrow and quit questioning every single one of my motives! I'll pick you up at seven."

"Where do you wor-" the dial tone cut her off. He had hung up on her.

She let out an infuriated grunt and slammed the phone back on its hook.

* * *

The day after, she had done what he said and dressed up. She was wearing a black dress that went just above her knees, with a slit up to the middle of her thigh on each side. It was a spaghetti-strap dress, with a neckline cut straight across her dress, showing a modest bit of cleavage. Enough to torment him, but enough to not be considered dressed like a slut. She wore black stilettos and she had tied her hair up in a fancy hairdo. Wearing only a small amount of makeup, she was quite proud of the way she looked that evening.

He tapped on her sliding door to the balcony. Why he always insisted on picking her up there, she would never know.

She opened it and let him in, taking her time to observe him. He whistled appreciatively at her.

"Lookin' hot," he winked, "If we didn't have somewhere to be I'd strip you down and have my way with you right here."

Crystal's face heated up when that particular exotic mental image popped up. While the idea was pleasing, it was hardly civilized…for the occasion.

"Yeah, you look alright too," she managed to say. He just smirked and examined himself. He was wearing dark blue (almost black) dress pants, a white dress shirt (the first two buttons unbuttoned) and a matching dark blue dress coat. He wasn't wearing a tie.

"Doesn't this place have a dress code?" she asked, "Don't you need a tie?

He shrugged. "Eh, I have one in my pocket just in case I'll need one. Thought I'd look sexier like this though."

He picked her up and ran her straight down the side of the building.

"Sweet Agon!" Crystal gasped. "I don't go vertical!"

He laughed and set her down gently on her feet. Crystal took a moment to straighten her dress out before she told him she left her purse inside because he was too impatient to wait three seconds for her to grab it.

He returned with her purse before she had even noticed that he had left.

"Less than three seconds there," he winked and hooked her arm around his. "Hardly one-sixth of a second, actually. And everybody wonders why I get fed up sometimes."

He escorted her to a red convertible. She stared at it in amazement as he opened the passenger door for her.

"Where in the world did you get this?" She asked as she sat down. Turning to her right to look at him questioningly she saw he wasn't there. The ignition started and not too much to her surprise, he was already in the driver's seat.

"Took it from Kitty," he told her, reversing out of his parallel parking spot with unnecessary speed. "She's at the boarding house making wedding plans with Lance. Won't even notice this baby's gone cause they're going to be at it for a few hours-"

"I wish you wouldn't talk so crudely," Crystal said as she kept a hand on her hair so it wouldn't get ruined.

He looked puzzled. "What do you mea-" his face melted into a grin. "And someone accuses _me_ of having a dirty mind. I meant they're going to be going at _wedding plans _for a few hours, Little Miss Can't-Keep-Her-Mind-Out-Of-The-Gutter."

"And Kitty in turn borrowed the car from Summers." Pietro finished, passing through a red light. Crystal screamed.

When they pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant, Crystal took her sweet time beating his head with her purse and hands.

"Quit it!" he held his hands up in a vain attempt to try and block her, "_Quitit_!"

"Raving lunatic!" She seethed, giving him one good smack on the arm before she turned sharply and entered the restaurant.

Pietro followed her shortly after and told the maitre de he had reservations under the name Maximoff.

The maitre de led them to a small, two-person table where the light was dim. He gave Pietro's hair an odd look before leaving them to greet an elderly couple at the door. Pietro smoothed his ruffled looking hair back and took his seat.

Their mealtime passed peacefully; they ordered their food, Crystal got their fish specialty and Pietro ordered his filet mignon. Then Pietro's ringing cell phone cut through the atmosphere. Heads turned to stare at them.

"Dammit," he muttered, hastily answering it before it disturbed anybody else in the restaurant further.

"What do you want?" he hissed quietly. "No I don't know where the damn plunger is. Blob, you of all people should know where the hell it is. I don't _know_, use Toad for all I care. I'm busy, don't call me again." He closed the phone with a snap and turned it off so they couldn't call him again.

While he was talking, Crystal wondered when it would be the right time to tell him. Throughout dinner, she kept opening her mouth to say something, but changed her mind and snapped it shut before changing the subject.

They left about two hours later and Pietro drove her home, making sure he stopped at the red light and at stop signs so they wouldn't have to repeat the incident that happened when they pulled into the restaurant's parking lot.

Crystal decided she was going to tell him as he opened her balcony door and set her down on the soft carpet inside. But as she was just about to open her mouth, he caught her lips in a deep kiss. For a second, she couldn't breath or respond, but she soon did as he continued to explore her mouth, his hands moving up and down her sides.

He laid a small kiss on her collarbone, and buried his face in the crook of her neck.

"I love you," he whispered against her skin, pulling her even closer to his body. Crystal froze, and at the moment she forgot that she had something important to tell him. She raised her arms and wrapped them around his neck, burying her hands in his hair as he began to kiss her again, this time even more passionately.

And later that night, as Crystal lay in her bed, snug in his arms, she remembered.

They sat in a little café, at a small booth, eating a nice lunch. Pietro had grabbed her hand from across the table and they sat there, him staring out the window, and her staring at the table.

"Pietro?" she said quietly. He acknowledged her with a, "hmm" but he didn't look at her. His mind seemed to be somewhere else.

"Pietro, look at me," she said a little more sternly. He turned to her, his eyebrows raised. He licked his lips.

"I have to tell you something," her voice shook with nervousness. She swallowed, glancing out the window and then back at the table. He still held her hand.

"Yeah, go on," it was hardly there, but she did hear the impatience in his tone. He would never change.

Taking a deep breath, she looked at their entwined fingers and said, "I'm pregnant."

_The End._

* * *

_Yep, that IS the ending, folks! Evil, innit? It's a cliffhanger! Yay! Makes you want to read the sequel more now, doesn't it? _

_But you all saw that coming. _

_1 This story takes place in 2002, so there isn't that whole Mad Cow craze going on. _

_I'm going to go back some time and edit all my earlier chapters. Just for the grammar and spelling and maybe a few other stuff. _

_Thanks to everybody who reviewed this story! I'm so glad it's done, the weight on my shoulders feels lighter. Yay!_

_Now I can concentrate on _Drastic Changes_. After I edit that one of course. My writing was sooo terrible back then I can't believe people actually read those stories. _

_Don't expect the sequel to be posted at least until May! But it'll be called, "Rules of Commitment" and for the first chapter it'll be in the PG-13 category…or is it T now? But anyways, after that first chapter, it's going to be M. _


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